Nigeria’s Top Athletes Get ₦300m Boost as Road to LA 2028 Begins

Thirty-one of Nigeria’s top athletes are a little richer this week, and a lot more focused, after the National Sports Commission (NSC) paid out about ₦300 million in quarterly training grants, an early push in the road to the 2028 Olympic Games in Los Angeles.

The payment is the fifth since the NSC introduced the quarterly grants policy in 2025 through its Elite and Podium Board, and the third this year. In two years, the Commission has now paid out more than ₦1 billion to Nigeria’s elite athletes.

Under the scheme, athletes receive quarterly grants of $10,000, $5,000 or $3,000, depending on their performance and whether they meet the scientific performance indicators set by the Board.

Several of the country’s leading athletes have welcomed the policy, with some calling it a game changer. For many, it means they can plan their preparations for international competition around steady, reliable support.

NSC Director General, Hon. Bukola Olopade, said the policy is about treating athletes as the foundation of success rather than an afterthought. “There are no accidental successes in sports,” he said. “This is why the Commission has prioritised the welfare and wellbeing of our athletes as a critical part of our strategy for scientific podium success.”

He said the grants were one of the key mandates President Bola Ahmed Tinubu gave to the Commission’s leadership. “It is one of the core mandates Mr President gave to Mallam Shehu Dikko and me, to ensure that we put money in the pockets of Nigerian athletes and prepare them adequately for international competitions like the Olympics,” Olopade said.

He argued that financial worry is one of the biggest threats to an athlete’s training. According to him, when athletes are not distracted by uncertainty over money, they can give their full attention to the work, and “when we take care of our athletes, they will take care of the country with medals.”

The NSC points to recent results as evidence the approach is working. Nigeria finished as Africa’s leading nation at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, where Samuel Ogazi and Nathaniel Ezekiel also broke world records. The team also made a strong showing at the 2025 Solidarity Games in Saudi Arabia.

With Los Angeles 2028 now less than two years away, the Commission says the grants will remain central to its plan to strengthen Nigeria’s elite sports system, raise its international competitiveness and deliver podium finishes at major global competitions.

The NSC made the announcement in a statement signed by Kola Daniel, Special Assistant on Media, Office of the Director General, on October 30, 2026.