The President of the Nigeria Wrestling Federation (NWF), Bashir Adewale Adeniyi, has assured wrestling fans that his administration will consolidate on the existing structure established by his predecessor, particularly the dominance in women’s wrestling, while also elevating the men’s team. Adeniyi, who also serves as the Comptroller General of the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), made this statement based on the outstanding performance of the women’s team at the recently concluded African Wrestling Championships in Alexandria, Egypt, and the potential observed within the men’s freestyle team.
Reflecting on Team Nigeria's Performance
Reflecting on the overall performance of Team Nigeria, the NWF leader noted that the victory resulted from capitalizing on the country’s comparative advantage in women’s wrestling while simultaneously building a strong foundation for the men. He emphasized that the federation will build on the achievements of the male athletes in Alexandria, where they secured six medals out of the eight male wrestlers who traveled to Egypt.
“What we have done with the boys shows that we can do better than what we have done before. So, we will go back to re-strategize and see how we can build on this success with the boys. With the women, we are not going to relent; we continue to improve on what we have and also bring up younger ones to ensure we remain number one in Africa while we eye the world stage,” he said.
Key Objectives and Achievements
The NWF president expressed delight at the country’s performance in Egypt, noting that it was one of his major objectives when he assumed office. “When I became president, I promised that we would not start from zero; that we would be building on what we met on the ground, and I’m happy we are doing exactly that. We are taking it as a responsibility to Nigerians that having conquered Africa through the women and made this massive improvement with the men, the world is now the next stage for us, and we will do our best to keep flying the country’s flag with pride and dignity,” Adeniyi stated.
At the African Championships in Egypt, Nigeria’s women topped the table with eight gold and two silver medals out of ten categories, extending their championship record to 15—a record no Nigerian sport has ever achieved at the continental or world stage. The men won one gold, two silver, and three bronze medals.
Standout Performers
Among the top performers was Harrison Onovwiomogbohwo, whose heroic display halted Egypt’s dominance in the men’s class. He defeated Egypt’s Mohamed Salaheldin 10-4 to win the gold medal in the 97kg category. In the women’s 62kg class, Esther Kolawole won all four of her round-robin bouts with ease, outscoring all opponents 40-0 and winning all four bouts through technical superiority.
