Marquis: African Military Games Show  Nigeria’s Capacity to Host the World

Air Vice Marshal Abidemi Marquis is a distinguished officer of the Nigerian Air Force with decades of service marked by exceptional leadership, strategic planning, and dedication to national and continental development. As the Chairman of the Local Organising Committee of the just concluded African Military Games Abuja 2024, he introduced unparalleled experience and a visionary approach to overseeing the historic event. Under his leadership, the African Military Games Abuja 2024 embodied excellence. Beyond his professional achievements, AVM Marquis is a passionate advocate for youth empowerment and community development. He believes in the transformative power of sports to inspire, unite, and uplift societies. His visionary leadership ensured that the African Military Games 2024 was an event to remember, he reflects on the spirit and potential of Africa

As the LOC Chairman, this event was applauded by lots of people, what specifically was your role and that of your team in making sure the event was this successful?

Yea, last year November, the Chief of Defence Staff convened this committee and we were given terms of reference which was clearly spelt out and in summary, the committee was saddled with the responsibility to organise this game and efficiently and effectively execute our plan for a successful African Military Games, so we were also to interact with relevant stakeholders in the sporting ecosystem to ensure, the success of the game. We were also to bring up the financial requirement and every other thing that were required to ensure that Nigeria played host to a very successful African Military Games. So, in a nutshell and as the chairman, we were to chart the strategy that is required to get to the end stage and also to look for the ways and means to get these things achieved. It took lots of coordination, planning, organisation, and controlling etc. It took lots of perseverance and even modelling to ensure that people working with me for this common goal understood the vision and the speed at which every one of them were required to work.  I will submit that all members of the LOC did their beats to the best of their ability and that was why every one saw how the games panned out. Everything was like working on auto-pilot, everybody knew what to do because even before the African Military Games, a week before that, we tested our plans to see if there were going to be hiccups and doubts and once, we identified lapses, we put measures in place to ensure that those gaps were filled immediately. Even as the game was going on, we were always on alert to fill in the gap wherever necessary. You know that once you plan and have started executing your plan, there are blind spots and unforeseen situations and for those unforeseen situations not to overwhelm us, we quickly put measures in place, I mean counter measures to ensure that we fall in line with the end state of the games.

Besides your team that worked tirelessly for the success of this game, can you specifically mention other institutions that played significant roles to ensure the success of AMGA 2024?

You know this was a multi-sectoral effort, it was a whole of society approach because you can’t do this massive logistics operations, massive accommodation, transportation, you can’t do it alone. It requires funds and goodwill of people, so for instance, the Minister of Federal Capital Territory (FCT), His Excellency, Barr. Ezenwo Nyesom Wike supported us massively to ensure that the game was successfully conducted, we got full support from the about 18 sports federations, swimmers were supported by their federation, all the technical directors of all the federations, they supported us with their technical knowhow and that is why you saw that game was fairly conducted and there was no complaint by any participating nation.  What about sponsors, Zenith Bank, Wema Bank, JAC, Borno State, Rivers State, Delta state, among other institutions and governmental agencies too numerous to mention who supported us financially. This game  had massive financial overlay, it was by the support of the sponsors and also the will of the Chief of Defence Staff General Musa Christopher to ensure that this games held, it was the will of the Chief of Defence Staff because the financial support that we got from all our sponsors was just about 1/3 of the cost of this games, so the remaining cost was borne by the defence headquarters, so if not for the CDS drive and determination to see that this becomes a legacy, auspicious and historical, the game wouldn’t have held.

 I can tell you that by August nothing much was on ground financially but by the end of September, God just raised helpers and we were able to conclude the game successfully and I can tell you also, Nigeria has raised the bar for other countries. As we speak now, some of them are asking us for the template, those ones that are planning to take the baton from Nigeria, they are asking us for the template and we are going to give them the template and we are going to support whoever that is ready to host in the next three or four years.

Why was the hosting of the Military Games Important to Nigeria at this time

You will recall (I stand to be corrected) that in the past 10-15 years, I don’t think Nigeria has hosted any competition of this magnitude where many African nations came to Nigeria for event of this nature, that is number one. Number two, the Chief of Defence Staff understood that the power projection that is inherent in this kind of sporting engagement. Number three, if you host this kind of internationally acclaimed and accepted sporting event, it makes your country visible. Outside that there are lots of economic benefits, I saw it myself, a lot of economic befits are embedded in this kind of international sporting event of this nature. I saw painters, I saw plumbers, I saw cleaners, I saw caterers, I saw people that were just selling water, you know money actually trickled down to the pockets of ordinary Nigerians within this period.  What about hoteliers, money trickled down to their pockets. So, this is not money hanging there or money misappropriated by someone, no the money went down to ordinary Nigerians. Over 120 cleaners were engaged everyday through out the event period and being paid about N13,000 each everyday, what about those selling ordinary water, the number of bottle waters drank at the hotels and national stadium and at their practicing pitches, think about the plumbers that fixed the toilets in that stadium, think about the renovations, painters, the people that fixed the tracks, they were all paid.

So, aside from the economic benefits, the event also was to show that Nigeria is stable, and secure.

All these nations came to Nigeria and there were no security issues, this has been the fear, the way Nigeria is being portrayed by international media but the Chief of Defence Staff used this event to also counter all the negative presentations and insinuations about Nigeria and thankfully by the special grace of God there was no issue.  What about the over 200 vehicles that were deployed, no driver had an accident and there was no scratch, everything went on well, and that shows the capacity of Nigeria to host these games and others like it.  Everybody involved were all Nigerians and no foreigners, it showed we have the capacity and capability to host any game of any nature to any level in Nigeria. So, the objective was met and exceeded. One of the things that really touched me was the contingents when there were going, if you see their report of the games in the platform, they express their gratitude that Nigeria was able to host these games after 22 years, they expressed their gratitude that they had a good time in Nigeria, the hospitality, the warmness of our people. These are things that money cannot buy; these are intangible but very powerful instrument of national power to bring people to your country, to treat them well and for them to go back with joy, expressing their gratitude to the host nation, this is kudos to the Chief of Defence Staff to his determination and drive to hos these games.

With the magnitude of achievement recorded during the games, going forward, what is the plan to ensure sustainability and ensure the games hold as and when due?

I can tell you that the Organisation of Military Sports in Africa (OSMA), is already doing enough on this and also, the President who is a Nigerian, Major General Abdulahi Maikano, is working round the clock to ensure that the games are held according to timing. With the end of AMGA 2024, I am sure that he has earmarked countries that have shown interest to host the next edition, so I believe before the end of the year, he will announce one of those countries. Another possibility they are looking at is two nations co- hosting the games because they are also looking at the financial implication and also transporting athletes to those two countries. Assuming that Africa has the kind of rail network, air network and road network connections, it would have been easier, but they are planning and meeting and  I am optimistic that before the end of the year, they will meet and announce the host nations, I am  also sure that two countries have indicated interest to host the next edition of the games.

We have talked about the benefit of hosting the games for the country, can we also look at the benefit of hosting the games for the military in specific terms?

In time past, the armed forces of Nigeria have been contributing to the national athletes that has been representing Nigeria in Commonwealth Games, Olympics and African Military Games but recently, we have not been able to do that  but during AMGA 2024, we have seen a lot of promising athletes both male and female that will  require us to nurture them and put in the required  structure and  a very rigid programme to nurture them to world beaters, so that is one of the benefits of the military games. You also know that the Chief of Defense Staff, General Chistopher Musa is a sports person, he participated in lots of national sporting activities. He represented Sokoto in one of those sports before he went to NDA and even when he was in NDA, he played volleyball and basket ball very well. So, he as a person understands the power of sports to boost self-confidence for whoever that takes sports very seriously, so we have identified those outlets, we have given them leave, before the end of their leave, we are going to come up with a structure for their nurturing because Rome, they say was not built in a day. So, for you to be among the world beaters, you have to pay the price and the CDS said it recently that he is going to look for international competitions for exposure, because you don’t just assume you are the best in your country but you have to compete with the best and beat the best, so he is planning to give that international exposure in areas we have competitive advantages and also in areas we have identified, we don’t have competitive advantage but we need to build our athletes so that they can compete  because if you don’t have a complete picture of the games, you will just be doing well in some aspects and not doing well in others and that is not the aim of the Chief of Defence Staff.

Opinion is rife that Nigeria topped the medal table at the events because it hosted it and not because of any special preparation by the military, do you have any contrary opinion?

That is not true at all, it was because we prepared and we worked. This was as a result of sweat and blood. We competed with other nations; did you hear any of them complaining. Everything was done transparently. It was not because we hosted it but because, we were systematic about it.  Look, this year alone, the Chief of Defence Staff has sent lots of athletes for international competition. Outside that, we had the armed forces games in Kaduna and we used that platform to identify those that will be camped. This people were camped for a whole month and we planned it in away that as they were leaving the camp, there was no one day in between, from camp straight, so these guys, they were fresh and ready.  So, it was not because Nigeria hosted, it was because Nigeria prepared to host and to win, and we won squarely and fairly.

What advise can you give to the youths from what happened at the games where athletes were mostly young people and a young girl won about eight medals in shooting, signifying there is hope for the youth’s contrary to what is happening?

The future of Nigeria are the youths, anyone who is in a position of leadership, should understand that firstly, one of the elements of national power is your population. Population is one of the critical elements of national power and in terms of youthful population, Nigeria is blessed, however we need  to make this population a quality population so,  if we are able to get critical mass of our youths involved in sports, it will reduce criminality, so my advice is not only to the youths but everyone who God has given the wherewithal, not only to the government but to anyone God has blessed and can just give back something. This year alone, the Chief of Defence Staff hosted the CDS Independent Staff Basketball, CDS Democratic Day Basketball, this year alone, he sent youths to Ivory Coast for hatchery competition, he established Defence Hatchery Sports Club, he sent people for wrestling, volleyball, if all of us in our own area in our own kingdom can be doing little, little things, the aggregate of those little, little things will be massive.  I also want to encourage the youths not to lose hope but engage in sporting activities, national stadium is there and numerous other infrastructures. I also want to encourage sports administrators to build sports facilities at different local government areas and also employ coaches to train these boys because one thing I know is that sports can be used to reduce poverty in Nigeria.  If you have many people like Victor Osimhen, Osimhen grew up at Ojota, a poverty ridden area in Lagos, but look at what his God given talents has achieved,  to transform not only his family but also people that he grew up together at Olusi at Ojota, there and so many of them like that, people from very, very humble background that you cant even believe that something can come out of them, but because of sports and the talents God has given them, they are changing stories of their families, they are bringing their communities out of poverty.  Go to America, go to Europe, they know that these things are very important. So, my advice to all sports administrators, either nationally or statewide, or even individuals that God has blessed, is that we should use the platform of sports to bring out people from poverty. A lot of talented young boys and girls cannot even afford to buy boots, they can’t even afford to buy ball or jersey, so if God has blessed you, identify them, you don’t even have to make noise about it and give your support. If you go everywhere on Saturday, you see youths playing football, support them, if its boots, even if it is not new ones, you can buy Tokunbo own and give them to train. Because you are bringing out people that criminals can influence to come and join them, when they have gone out to train, they won’t be ready for vices, sport is very powerful.  We can use sports to eradicate poverty, sports can be used to rebrand Nigeria at the international level, sports can also be used to compel other nations to respect us. If you have an international sporting event, and you can dominate, you will understand that sports is war, it is just that we are not using bullets and guns, but once you can dominate and express your God’s given talents, your projecting power for your nation, they will respect you as other nations will acknowledge that you have done well for yourself, everybody will respect you.

Most nations that participated in the AMGA 2024 have their senior military officers in Nigeria throughout the games and also the presence of the chief of defence staff at the closing ceremonies too were obvious, as a very senior military officer, what can you say was the significance of this meetings given the rising insecurity in Nigeria and Africa?

During the closing ceremony, some of their chiefs of defence staff were present and they had meetings with our own Chief of Defence Staff. Everything is just about security in Nigeria and you know, not only in Nigeria but in Africa. Even in these games, you will see that Mali was represented, Burkina Faso was represented, Niger would have come but at the dying minute, they apologised they were not able to come, so these are nations that have exited ECOWAS Group, but they came for the games. So we also used the opportunity of the games, to interact with their personnel, to tell them that look, it is better we are together, you can easily break a stick of broom, but a bunch of broom, it cannot easily be broken, so it is better  for us be together as sub- region, so we told them all these and they are better when they are in the sub regional body and they also alluded to that fact that they will think about it, so we have also used the opportunity of this game to talk to our brothers from other countries that have exited ECOWAS about the need for them to come back and they have assured us they will speak to their higher authorities and how Nigeria received them, took care of them and also the ambience, they were no hostilities towards them, we told them we love them and we showed that love, so they will  go back to their higher authorities and tell them how they were treated in Nigeria and also we told them that  nobody can build Africa for Africans, only Africans can truthfully and honestly with integrity build Africa.

‘Badoo’ Wins N1m Best Boxer Prize at GOtv Boxing Night 32

Teenage boxing sensation, Raheem “Badoo” Animashaun, emerged as the star of GOtv Boxing Night 32 on Boxing Day, clinching the N1 million cash prize and the prestigious Mojisola Ogunsanya Memorial Trophy for the Best Boxer of the Night.

The 17-year-old delivered an outstanding performance, securing a technical knockout victory over Hammed “Ese” Ganiyu in their light welterweight bout held at Tafawa Balewa Square, Lagos.

Badoo set the tone early by knocking down his opponent in the first round before sealing the win decisively in the sixth round. This victory marks Badoo’s second consecutive Best Boxer award, having previously won the title at the 31st edition in May.

The night, filled with thrilling action, music, and comedy, featured four other exciting bouts. In the only title fight, Rasheed “Fally Boy” Adeyemo was crowned the new national super welterweight champion after a unanimous decision victory over Lateef “Enuoshe” Azeez.

The biggest upsets of the evening came when Jafaru “Tanka” Suleiman knocked out Taiwo “Gentle Boy” Olowu in the second round of their national super welterweight fight.

The national super flyweight challenge between Akintunde Abolade and Emmanuel Abimbola ended in a draw, while Sikiru “Omo Iya Eleja” Shogbesan delivered a thrilling performance to secure a unanimous decision victory over Imole “System” Oloyede in their national super featherweight fight.

Organised by Flykite Productions and proudly sponsored by GOtv, GOtv Boxing Night continues to showcase the best of Nigerian boxing talent while entertaining fans with unforgettable moments.