Adeniyi targets world stage after wrestlers’ dominant Alexandria showing
Nigeria Wrestling Federation President Bashir Adewale Adeniyi has declared his intention to consolidate on the dominant foundation laid by his predecessor — sustaining the women’s wrestling dynasty while closing the
Nigeria Wrestling Federation President Bashir Adewale Adeniyi has declared his intention to consolidate on the dominant foundation laid by his predecessor — sustaining the women's wrestling dynasty while closing the gap for the men — following a commanding outing at the African Wrestling Championships in Alexandria, Egypt.
The NWF president, who also serves as Comptroller-General of the Nigeria Customs Service, spoke to journalists after the women's team claimed a record-extending 15th African Wrestling Championships title, while the men registered a significant improvement on previous outings.
Reflecting on Team Nigeria's overall performance, Adeniyi said the women's success was a product of building on the country's established advantage, while the men's outing demonstrated the potential for further growth.
"What we have done with the boys shows that we can do better than what we have done before. So, we would go back to re-strategise and see how we can build on this success with the boys," he said.
"With the women, we are not going to relent. We will 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 added.
On the women's record-extending triumph, Adeniyi said it fulfilled a core promise he made on assuming the presidency.
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"I'm indeed very delighted. When I became president I promised that we are not starting from zero — that we would be building on what we met on 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. We will do our best to keep flying the country's flag with pride and dignity," he stated.
The women concluded the championship with eight gold medals and two silvers from the 10 available weight categories, extending Nigeria's African Wrestling Championships title haul to 15 — a continental record unmatched by any Nigerian sport.
The men claimed one gold, two silvers and three bronzes from the eight athletes who travelled to Egypt.
Among the standout performers, Harrison Onovwiomogbohwo halted Egypt's dominance in the 97kg category, defeating Mohamed Salaheldin 10–4 to claim gold. In the women's 62kg, Esther Kolawole was imperious, winning all four of her round-robin bouts by technical superiority and outscoring her opponents 40–0.
