Federation’s President, Samuel Vows to Reposition Fencing in Nigeria

Kunle Adewale

Not much is known about the activities of the Nigeria Fencing Federation (NFF) in the country and the President of the federation, Adeyinka Samuel, who once represented Nigeria in fencing is set to change the narrative.

As part of efforts to reposition fencing in Nigeria, the federation is putting up four cardinal points to operate from.

According to the Fencing Federation President, Samuel, one of the plans the federation has put in place is to host as many international championships as possible, of which he admitted it would need a lot of funding.

For Samuel, motivating as many people as possible to watch and learn about the game will help develop the sport in the country in no small measure.

The former Nigeria international fencer said, “the third arm is to develop the youth to elite fencing and top class fencing and we have a programme we are following which sees us train 10 coaches and referees, while the fourth arm is the grassroots development programme.

“We have been working on this since 2017 and the programme has led us to develop potential fencing champions from less-privilege communities. We also have a class that has been set up to train over 200 children in those hubs and once we identify talented children, we pick them for challenges ahead. We also have scholarship programs for them and I can authoritatively tell you we have placed 10 kids on scholarship.”

Having lived in the United Kingdom for a number of years Samuel returned to Nigeria to reposition fencing, and under his leadership fencing has recorded numerous achievements within a few years.

“Passion for the sport brought me back to Nigeria and I tell myself it’s high time I develop this sport. So, when I speak, I speak from a place of having been an athlete and I’m willing to provide a platform for as many fencers as possible.

“Since 2018, we have hosted three international tournaments which consisted of two African championships, and a world tournament. We have now positioned ourselves as the leading Sahara African country in fencing,” he expressed.

Ultimately however, qualifying for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics with at least two fencers is paramount to Samuel.