Director General of the National Sports Commission (NSC), Bukola Olopade, has called on Nigeria to urgently overhaul its sports infrastructure, citing Morocco’s successful hosting of the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) as a wake-up call for the country.
Olopade said Nigeria must move beyond rhetoric and adopt a more aggressive, intentional approach to infrastructure development if it hopes to attract and host major international sporting events in the future.
This request come at a time when Morocco’s growing influence in African football has been widely praised, with CAF repeatedly highlighting the country’s modern stadiums, training centres, and logistics as reasons for awarding it major tournaments.
This is a growing consensus within Nigerian sports administration that facility development must become a national priority, not just to host competitions, but to unlock the full economic and developmental potential of sport.
Why NSC Seeks Sport Infrastructural Growth
Speaking in the aftermath of AFCON 2025, Olopade praised Morocco’s organisation of the tournament and stated that Nigeria must draw inspiration from the North African nation’s investment-driven model.
According to him, hosting elite competitions is no longer just about football tradition or fan culture, but about facilities that meet global standards.
“As a people, we have said that the productive angle of sport must be seen from the prism of us being able to bring and attract major events of this nature, which simply means the issue of infrastructure that people have been harping on,” Olopade said.
“We have to be aggressive about it now.”
The NSC Director General made it clear that the call for renewal should not be limited to football alone, warning that Nigeria risks falling behind across multiple sports if infrastructure gaps are not urgently addressed.
He emphasized that world-class facilities are central to athlete development, commercial growth, and Nigeria’s ability to position itself as a viable host nation on the global stage.
“From the point of view of the NSC and the country as a whole, we must go out now and fix our facilities,” he added.
“Not only in football, in other sports.”
In conclusion, Olopade insists that without deliberate investment in infrastructure, ambition alone will not be enough for Nigeria.
