Maxwell Kumoye & Pelumi Adele
The NCAA track season just wrapped, and once again it proved why the American college system is a factory for world-class athletes. Nigerian and other African runners set personal bests, hit World Championship qualifying marks, and reminded everyone that combining education with elite training works.
But back home, the story is different. For every Nigerian star shining in a US singlet, there’s another fighting visa headaches just to wear the green-and-white.
More Nigerian student-athletes in the US are missing national team call-ups. The issue isn’t talent. It’s US visa renewals, re-entry rules, and scholarship terms that punish them for leaving campus mid-semester. So while the NCAA builds them into champions, bureaucracy keeps them from representing Nigeria.
“We’re building athletes abroad, but we’re failing them at home”
That’s the frustration Coach Mutiu Oluwa voiced. He argues Nigeria’s universities have the raw talent but lack integrity and planning.
“Universities here are bleeding. The people in charge steal at every chance,” Oluwa said. He pointed to the last NUGA Games held in half-finished stadiums. “Even top officials were involved in the rot.”
He says the cycle repeats: professors double as contractors, projects stall, and stadiums stay unfinished. From UNILAG to Jos, the pattern is the same.
Worse, Oluwa says the system punishes success. “Professors get jealous of athletes who stand out, even if all they own is a worn-out shirt. Until that mindset changes, don’t expect much from our universities.”
*What Ghana and Botswana are getting right*
Olabanji Oyebusi of Dynamic Athletics agrees. He says Nigeria needs a total reset, and points to neighbors doing it better.
“Look at Ghana — even basic hostels have AC, plus proper sports facilities. In Botswana, the university sits right next to the national stadium and has its own track,” Oyebusi said.
He believes poor campus conditions do more than hurt sports. “When students spend 4 years just trying to survive, their mindset becomes ‘escape first, nation later.’ If we fix hostels, labs, and tracks, we’ll build athletes who also think about the country.”
*It’s not about money, it’s about management*
Veteran sports writer Ben Efe put it simply: “College sports is big business in the US. In Nigeria, we haven’t even started.”
Oluwa says he’s seen it work locally. Universities like OAU and ABU once ran tight scholarship programs and produced champions. The secret wasn’t cash — it was discipline.
“Last NUGA was won by a school with just 22 athletes on scholarship. They flew in, competed, flew out. Clean and simple,” he said. Compare that to federal schools that show up with 200+ athletes, house them poorly, and collect allowances per head. “The athletes get peanuts of what NUGA approves,” Oluwa added. “Someone needs to investigate.”
*The lesson from abroad*
The NCAA isn’t perfect, but it works because education, facilities, and accountability are locked in. Nigerian athletes there keep proving what’s possible when talent gets structure.
The challenge now is bringing that structure home. If Nigerian universities fix corruption, finish their stadiums, and treat athletes with respect, the next generation won’t have to cross the Atlantic just to become champions. They could do it right here.
