President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has formally endorsed the forthcoming National Grassroots Sports Development Summit, throwing the weight of the Federal Government behind an initiative aimed at building a sustainable pathway for discovering, developing and retaining young sporting talents across Nigeria.
The summit, organised by the Office of the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Grassroots Sports Development, is scheduled to hold at the Banquet Hall of the State House, Presidential Villa, Abuja. It will convene policymakers, sports administrators, coaches, athletes, schools, academies, federations and development partners to address longstanding challenges facing grassroots sports in the country.
Announcing the summit in Abuja, the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Grassroots Sports Development, Hon. Adeyinka Anthony Adeboye, described the Presidential endorsement as a landmark moment for Nigeria’s grassroots sports agenda.
According to Adeboye, President Tinubu has not only endorsed the initiative but has also called on relevant institutions and stakeholders nationwide to give it their full support.
“The President’s endorsement of this summit is a powerful statement about the importance his administration attaches to grassroots sports. It gives us a clear mandate to bring everybody to the table and begin to build the system our young athletes deserve,” Adeboye said.
The summit will be held under the theme, “Creating a New Pathway for Sustainable Grassroots Sports Development,” with discussions expected to focus on practical reforms capable of transforming Nigeria’s talent development system.
Adeboye said the country possesses exceptional sporting potential across its 774 local government areas, but has consistently struggled with the structures needed to identify, nurture and retain talented athletes from community and school levels.
“Our young people are not lacking talent. What has been missing is a sustainable pathway. We must know where the next generation of athletes will be discovered, where they will train, who will coach them, how they will compete and how they will transition into elite sport,” he said.
The Presidential aide noted that the summit comes at a critical period when Nigeria must move beyond discovering talents by chance and establish an organised framework that connects grassroots participation with national and international sporting excellence.
Two major keynote sessions have been scheduled for the event. The first, “Grassroots Sports Development in Nigeria: Challenges and Way Forward,” will examine structural barriers affecting talent identification and development while proposing practical policy solutions.
The second keynote, “The Game Changer: How Sports Rescues Youth and Builds Nations,” will explore the broader social impact of sports, including its role in youth empowerment, education, discipline, employment and national cohesion.
Adeboye said the second theme reflects President Tinubu’s wider vision of sports as more than competition, describing it as an instrument for social inclusion, economic opportunity and nation-building.
“Sports can rescue a young person from hopelessness. It can give a child purpose, discipline, education, employment and a sense of belonging.
When we invest in grassroots sports, we are investing in the future of Nigeria,” he said.
He stressed that the gathering would not become another forum where problems are merely identified, insisting that the objective is to generate actionable recommendations capable of influencing national sports policy and creating a coordinated grassroots development framework.
The summit is expected to attract participation from state and local governments, sports federations, educational institutions, clubs, academies, former athletes, private sector organisations, traditional institutions, civil society groups and international development partners.
Adeboye also explained that the initiative complements ongoing reforms under the re-established National Sports Commission, particularly efforts to strengthen talent identification and create clearer pathways from grassroots participation to elite performance.
“This is bigger than one office, bigger than one administration and bigger than one competition. We are talking about the future of Nigerian sports and the future of our young people. That is why everybody must come together,” he added.
Expressing appreciation to President Tinubu, Adeboye said the endorsement has elevated grassroots sports into the national conversation and created an opportunity to reposition it as a structured development system rather than an occasional activity.
He urged stakeholders to approach the summit with innovative ideas and a shared commitment to lasting reform.
“The time has come to stop asking where Nigeria’s next generation of champions will come from. We know where they are. They are in our communities, our schools and our grassroots competitions. Our responsibility now is to create the pathway that will take them from there to the world,” he said.
The National Grassroots Sports Development Summit is expected to become a flagship platform for dialogue, collaboration and policy direction as Nigeria seeks to build a stronger and more sustainable grassroots sports architecture for future generations.
AbdulBasit Saba is a journalist and contributor to Freelanews.com, covering news, business, and public affairs.
