Nigeria’s quest to rebuild its sports development system from the grassroots will come under the spotlight next month as President Bola Tinubu, former Lagos State Governor Babatunde Raji Fashola, governors, economic experts and leading sports administrators converge on Abuja for a high-powered national summit.

The two-day National Grassroots Sports Development Summit 2026, scheduled for November 18 and 19 at the Banquet Hall, State House, Presidential Villa, is expected to produce a new roadmap for tackling persistent challenges undermining talent discovery, sports infrastructure, funding, coaching and athlete development across the country.

With the participation of the National Sports Commission, Nigerian Economic Summit Group, UNESCO, state governments and local government authorities, the summit is designed to move grassroots sports beyond isolated successes to a coordinated national system capable of discovering and nurturing talents from schools and communities to the international stage.

President Tinubu is listed as Special Guest of Honour at the opening ceremony, while Fashola is scheduled to deliver the keynote address, setting the stage for discussions on how Nigeria can harness its enormous sporting potential to create opportunities for young people and strengthen its competitiveness in international sports.

The summit is being organised by the Office of the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Grassroots Sports Development, Adeyinka Anthony Adeboye, under the theme, “Creating a New Pathway for Sustainable Grassroots Sports Development.”

The Chief Executive Officer of NESG, Tayo Aduloju, will also feature prominently, with the economic policy organisation serving as technical partner to help translate the summit’s deliberations into a workable development roadmap.

Other key figures expected at the opening-day engagements include NSC Chairman, Mallam Shehu Dikko; NSC Director-General, Hon. Bukola Olopade; the Chairman of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum; the President of the Association of Local Governments of Nigeria, and the Head of Office and UNESCO Representative to Nigeria.

The President of the African Table Tennis Federation, Barrister Enitan Oshodi; the President of the Nigeria Olympic Committee; and Musa Nakorji of the Central Bank of Nigeria’s Research Department are also listed among the participants.

Their involvement underscores the summit’s ambition to connect grassroots sports development with economic planning, education, international cooperation, subnational governance and private-sector investment.

Adeboye said the central challenge confronting Nigerian sports was no longer whether the country possessed talented athletes, but whether it had the structures, resources and sustained policies required to identify and develop them.

“The real question is not whether Nigeria has sporting talent. We know we have talent in abundance. The question is how we build a system that discovers, nurtures and supports that talent consistently, from our communities and schools to the international stage,” he said.

He stressed that the participation of state governments, local councils, development institutions and sports administrators would be crucial to developing sustainable solutions rather than allowing grassroots initiatives to remain fragmented and dependent on isolated interventions.

For Nigerian sports, the stakes are significant. A properly coordinated grassroots development system could strengthen talent identification, improve access to facilities and qualified coaches, and create clearer pathways for promising athletes to progress from schools and local competitions to national teams and international championships.

The summit’s emphasis on economic planning also raises the prospect of examining sustainable funding models and stronger collaboration between government and the private sector, particularly as the country seeks to maximise the economic and social benefits of sports.

Proceedings will continue on Thursday, November 19, with further stakeholder engagements aimed at producing actionable recommendations for sustainable grassroots sports development.

Organisers are optimistic that the gathering will provide a defining platform for rebuilding the foundation of Nigerian sports, widening opportunities for young people and establishing a more coherent framework for identifying, training and supporting the country’s next generation of sporting champions.