The President of the African International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF), Waheed Oshodi, has encouraged the National Sports Commission (NMC) to consider allotting funds to sports that yield medals at global competitions.
After applauding the new NMC leadership, Oshodi outlined the Sports that differ from football, which have the intrinsic ability to deliver more medals at multi-sport events to include, including table tennis, wrestling and athletics.
He also applauded the determination and competence of top African players who compete despite limited resources and support.
He said, “I am thankful to the new Director General and Chairman of the National Sports Commission. They are starting well; they’ve tried. But for me, I can see the green lights; we just need more money.”
“The truth is, we still haven’t done enough for other sports. Football is important, we all love it, but these are the sports that matter. These are the ones that bring medals home.”
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“At the top level, we have players like Quadri Aruna and Omar Assar competing with the best in the world, but that’s a remarkable feat considering how little we have invested in sports infrastructure across Africa,”
Amid the conversation, Oshodi tagged Egypt as a paragon of excellence in sports development, saying, “Egypt has a fantastic sports structure, and you can see the results.
“Most of their success has come through structured support, and we’re beginning to see that again at the African Youth Championships.”
He further praised the talent of emerging players in the industry and highlighted the role of the African International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) in bridging funding gaps across the continent
“We had players from Uganda and across Africa. It’s no longer just Nigeria and Egypt. These kids are coming through, and there’s a clear path for them now.
“Every time I come to Nigeria, there’s a new, exciting kid. This Joshua is really something else. We have 20, 30, even 40 players that can be at a world-class level, and that’s amazing for a country like Nigeria because we haven’t invested that much,” he said.
Oshodi stressed that Nigeria has the capability to stage world-class competitions.
Sunday Telegraph gathered that the 2025 Lagos Festival of Table Tennis has hosted two of four major events, within the time span of July 16th to August 5th in Lagos.
