The President of the Nigeria Cricket Federation (NCF), Uyi Akpata, has expressed optimism that cricket will become one of Nigeria’s top three sports shortly.
Speaking with the International Cricket Council (ICC) after Nigeria’s impressive performance at the U-19 Women’s T20 World Cup, Akpata credited the federation’s structured development plan for the progress achieved so far.
The Junior Female Yellow Greens made their World Cup debut in Malaysia, securing stunning victories over established cricket nations like New Zealand and Ireland before exiting at the Super Six stage.
Akpata hailed the team’s performance, noting that their success had exceeded expectations.
He said, “I am just pleased with the girls’ performance. When you invest a lot and see the rewards coming through, even faster than expected, you get some sort of fulfillment,” Akpata said. “Our development plan was showing that we should be in the World Cup by 2028.”
“But these girls just keep redefining the standards. When the present NCF board came in, we set up about five strategic imperatives. This involves all-round development, which includes facilities, strategic partnerships with the government, sponsors, and key stakeholders.
“Good governance and financial integrity are also part of our strategic plan; we have reached our target of 250,000 kids playing cricket every year, with half of them female doing inter-school cricket tournaments, national under-17 tournaments, regional leagues, and more for developmental cricket.
“Also, we introduced contracts to national team players as well as grant scholarships to players in school. Now, we can host an ICC tournament.
“This was not possible five years ago, but now we have about seven grounds across the country to host a successful ICC event and is aimed at seeing that cricket becomes one of the three recognised sports in Nigeria,” Akpata hinted.
The NCF president emphasised that the recent success of the U-19 women’s team had generated massive interest in cricket among Nigerians, strengthening the cricket brand in the country.
With continued investment and development, Akpata believes cricket is on course to become one of Nigeria’s three most recognised sports.
