FACTORS AFFECTING THE DEVELOPMENT OF SPORTS IN NIGERIA

Nigerian sports have not been stable over the years largely because of poor administration and management. According to Ademola (2018) sports in Nigeria today has been faced with numerous challenges and this is evident in the performance of the national teams at various sports during international competitions.

Current State of the National Stadium Surulere, Lagos

Nigeria actually performs well at a few event such as;

1.  The FIFA Under 17 male world cup (winning 5 out of 17 world championship and becoming the most successful team at the tournament)

2. The CAF women championship (winning 10 out of 12 championships) 

3. The Paralympics games (winning 36 gold, 18 silver and 16 bronze medals at seven appearances from 1992 to 2018 while the Olympians have 3 gold 10 silver and 12 bronze medals, at 16 appearances from 1952 to 2018)

Many people will wonder why a country which is the 7 largest in the world (>195 million people) by population would find it difficult to produce athletes that would do well at sports internationally. For example, Hungary with a population of about 9.5 million which is less than 5% of Nigeria's population finished 12th at the 2016 Olympic games with 8 gold, 3 silver and 4 bronze medals while Nigeria finished 78th position with only one bronze medal.

Why is this possible? Does population count really translate to good standing in sports?

The truth of the matter is that having a large population can 

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