7 Nigerian All-Time Greats

Quite a huge number of Nigerians have made the nation proud in various sports; however we have selected just seven of Nigeria’s sports heroes in this article, so feel free to add yours in the comment section. In no particular order:

Teslim ‘Thunder’ Balogun

This football icon has tales written about him, told on school playgrounds and other informal settings; tales of how his shots were so powerful they could rip apart the net. The fact, however, is that Teslim ‘Thunder’ Balogun is probably the greatest footballer Nigeria has ever had. Of his many victories, Teslim won the Nigeria’s Challenge Cup five times in seven finals and was a part of Nigeria’s UK Tourists team in 1949. Balogun was also the very first Nigerian to sign a professional football contract abroad. After retirement, the sports veteran worked his way to becoming the first African to qualify as a professional coach, leading Nigeria’s 1968 team to the Olympics.

Mercy Akide

Mercy Akide is one of Nigeria’s foremost football players who strove to put the nation’s women team on the world’s football map. Her skill on the ball, made her the first African woman to receive world recognition and also the first African to earn a soccer scholarship to the USA, where she set a record of 49 goals in one season. Akide represented Nigeria at three World Cups, two Olympic Games and three African Women’s Nations Cups. She was named the first ever African Woman Footballer of the Year in 2000 – holding the title till 2002.

Hogan ‘Kid’ Bassey

Meet the first Nigerian to become a World boxing champion. Okon Asuquo Bassey earned his hallmark after defeating Frenchman, Cherif Hamia, in Paris in 1957. The boxing champ held the Nigeria bantamweight title, flyweight title, the West Africa flyweight and bantamweight titles and also went ahead to claim the Empire featherweight title.

Chioma Ajunwa

Naija’s own female titan! Football? Check! Long Jump? Check! Sprint Races? Check! Chioma could confidently feature in any of these sports and prove her worth anytime any day. She played for the Super Falcons, switched over to athletics where she ran and competed in the 1996 Olympics Game Long Jump event and became Nigeria’s first Gold medalist in an Olympics Game.

Dick Tiger

Another Nigerian boxer who dominated the foreign scene is Richard “DIck Tiger” Ihetu who held the world middleweight boxing championship and the world light-heavyweight world championship in the 1950s and 1960s.

Stephen Keshi

There is no way you can talk about Nigeria’s football and not mention the man who conquered African football, Stephen Keshi. Keshi moved from Nigeria to Cote d’Ivorie after wining the WAFU Cup twice, where he won won the league and the Cup with Stade d’Abidjan and Africa Sports. After his playing years, Keshi returned to coach under Shuiabu Amodu, winning the Nations Cup bronze and qualifying for the 2002 World Cup, before becoming only the second former player to win AFCON as coach when he guided the Super Eagles to the title in 2013.

Innocent Egbunike

At a time Nigeria’s fastest man. As far back as 1983, Egbunike had begun showing the world what stuff Nigerians were truly made of, winning Gold in the 200m event at the 1983 Summer Universiade Games. A moment in Egbunike’s career which many Nigerians will never forget was the 1987 All Africa Games in Nairobi. Nigeria needed a late win in the final event, the 4 x 400m relay to overhaul Kenya on the medal table, Egbunike ran anchor and the Kenyans were about 30 metres ahead. However that did not deter the speedster from chasing down and overtaking his main opponent to give Nigeria the win.