Preparations for the National Grassroots Sports Development Summit 2026 have gathered momentum following a meeting of the Main Organising Committee (MOC) chaired by the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Grassroots Sports Development, Hon. Adeyinka Anthony Adeboye.
The meeting, held on Thursday, focused on preparations, coordination and strategies towards delivering a successful national summit scheduled for November 18 and 19, 2026, at the Banquet Hall, Presidential Villa, Abuja.
The Summit, with the theme “Creating a New Pathway for Sustainable Grassroots Sports Development,” is being put together by the Office of the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Grassroots Sports Development as a major platform for stakeholders to examine the future of grassroots sports in Nigeria.
Chairing the MOC meeting, Adeboye stressed that the Summit must go beyond speeches and ceremonial engagements to produce practical ideas, partnerships and recommendations capable of strengthening Nigeria’s sports development system.
“We are building a Summit that must produce action, not just conversation. Nigeria has enormous talent at the grassroots, but talent alone is not enough. We need a system that discovers these young people early, develops them properly and creates a sustainable pathway that can take them from their communities and schools to national and international excellence.”
The MOC deliberated on critical areas of preparation, including stakeholder mobilisation, programme development, technical sessions, logistics, media and communications, private-sector participation and the overall coordination required to deliver the two-day national gathering.
Adeboye said the timing of the Summit is particularly significant amid the broader national conversation about reforming Nigerian sports and building structures capable of delivering sustainable results.
According to him, meaningful sports reform must pay serious attention to what happens at the foundation, particularly in schools, communities, local government areas, academies and other environments where young talents are first discovered.
“If Nigeria wants sustainable success at the highest level, we must get the foundation right. We cannot continue to depend on discovering exceptional athletes by chance. There must be a deliberate pathway from talent identification to development, competition and elite performance.”
The Summit is expected to bring together stakeholders from government, sports administration, federations, state and local structures, schools, clubs and academies, alongside coaches, former athletes, corporate organisations, development partners and other participants in the Nigerian sports ecosystem.
A major component of the programme will be discussions around “Grassroots Sports Development in Nigeria: Challenges and Way Forward,” examining the structural obstacles that have limited grassroots development and the practical interventions required to address them.
Another key conversation, “The Game Changer: How Sports Rescues Youth and Builds Nations,” will explore the wider potential of sports as an instrument for youth empowerment, education, employment opportunities, social inclusion, community development and national unity.
Adeboye told members of the MOC that the Summit should provide corporate Nigeria and other development partners with an opportunity to become active participants in building the country’s sporting future.
He noted that government alone cannot provide every facility, competition, training programme and development opportunity required by millions of young Nigerians, making strategic partnerships essential to the sustainability of grassroots sports.
“This must be a national effort. Government has a responsibility, but the private sector, schools, communities, federations, clubs, coaches, parents and development partners all have roles to play. The future of Nigerian sports belongs to all of us.”
The Presidential aide said the ultimate ambition is to create a framework through which promising young athletes can be identified regardless of where they come from and given opportunities to progress based on talent, discipline and performance.
He charged members of the Main Organising Committee to approach their responsibilities with urgency and professionalism, stressing that the November gathering should leave behind outcomes capable of contributing meaningfully to the future direction of grassroots sports development in Nigeria.
“November 18 and 19 must represent more than two dates on the sporting calendar. We want to look back at this Summit and say that this was where stakeholders came together, confronted the challenges honestly and began building a new pathway for Nigerian sports.”
With preparations now intensifying, Adeboye expressed confidence that the National Grassroots Sports Development Summit 2026 would provide an important platform for translating Nigeria’s vast grassroots sporting potential into a more organised and sustainable national talent-development system.
“Nigeria does not have a shortage of talent,” Adeboye concluded. “Our responsibility is to make sure talent has somewhere to go. That is the pathway we are determined to build.”
