With Nigeria making up the numbers in the archery global ranking, the sport is fast becoming more popular for the wrong reasons, writes David Meshioye.

For the archery community in Nigeria today, the stakes have never been higher. As far as anyone can remember, archery currently occupies the rock-bottom spot in the pecking order of popular sports in the country. This is because the sport has continued to punch below its weight for decades in its quest to gain more popularity among Nigerians. Rather, it is the lingering administrative crisis tearing at the ramparts of a sport tipped to position Nigeria at the pinnacle of Olympic success that is drawing the attention of many.

The federation is in a state of ‘civil war’, which had its foundation in the last election, coupled with a series of allegations ranging from the monopoly of power, financial mismanagement, and poor leadership. The phone tapping, name-calling, and campaign of calumny among archery stakeholders can be summed up as a soap opera capable of tearing the federation from the top to the middle. Today, the federation runs a divided house, and even the Nigeria Olympic Committee (NOC) and World Archery Federation (WA) have lost the plot of the federation’s internal strife.

According to the federation president, Mohammed Baba Abdullahi, archery in Nigeria was heading for the gallows before he took over the mantle of leadership, hence the need for a fresh start. For a time, his words were heeded. Archery was introduced into several states in southwest and northern Nigeria, a vacuum that had existed for two decades under the watchful eyes of Coach Boluji Olugbenga.

Abdullahi said the call for reform and his determination that Nigeria’s archery federation must be rebuilt in his vision have been the core of the problem.

”There was no single archery club in 2016 when it became known as the Lagos State Archery Association. I told the secretary, Mr. Boluji Olugbenga, that it was unheard of not to have a state association for 20 years. We then created associations in Ogun, Lagos, Oyo, Ondo, Plateau, Kaduna, and Gombe.


https://guardian.ng/sport/other/nigerian-archery-federation-in-chaos-as-election-dispute-rages-on/