British Fencing Federation President, Pat Aiyenuro has praised the Nigeria Fencing Federation for successfully hosting the first-ever Fencing World Cup in Sub-Saharan Africa.

The event, held in late December, attracted participants from 10 nations, including Hong Kong, Saudi Arabia, and Egypt.

Aiyenuro expressed her confidence in Nigeria’s ability to host more international tournaments, revealing plans for future collaborations between the British and Nigerian fencing federations to develop the sport further.

“I think that we’re going to host the African Senior Championships in the summer. So I think we’ve really positioned ourselves to be a really good host of future competitions. So we’re very likely to get more competitions,” Aiyenuro said.

She also highlighted efforts to improve the sport’s infrastructure in Nigeria, focusing on training referees and coaches.

“We’re already working on that. We want to try and get more referees qualified and also maybe to a coaching program so that we can upskill our coaches because we have the potential to have champions in Nigeria, but we just need to make sure that we get the refereeing and the coaching structure right,” she added.

Aiyenuro commended the Nigerian Federation for its forward-thinking approach.

“And so Nigerian Federation are actually thinking forward and trying to organize that as I speak now.”

With the momentum from hosting the World Cup and upcoming initiatives, Nigeria appears poised to become a significant hub for fencing in Africa and beyond.