Top 10 Nigeria Sport Personalities Of All Time

Do you want to know about Nigeria’s sports personalities of all time? This article has provided you with the top Nigerian sports personalities you need to know.

Sports are a crucial part of everyone’s growth and development. They help people to maintain health and fitness. Some people are talented in specific sports. They have honed their skills and talents and competed in various local and international games.

Several Nigerian sports personalities have made the country proud.  These superstars have gained global recognition for their craft while also winning major awards along the way.

Below is a list of the top 10 Nigerian sports personalities of all time.

1. Asisat Oshoala

top Nigeria sport personalities

Asisat Oshoala is a Nigerian professional footballer who plays as a striker for the Spanish Liga F club FC Barcelona and the Nigeria women’s national team. She is Widely regarded as one of the greatest African female footballers of all time and one of the best in the world, she is one of the most celebrated African female footballers of all time, and she won African Women’s Football of the Year a record five times.

Oshoala is a three-time winner of the Africa Women’s Cup of Nations, lifting the title in 2014, 2016 and 2018. At the club level, Oshoala currently plays for Barcelona where she has won three consecutive Primera Division titles from 2019 – 2022. She has also won the UEFA Women’s Champions League and was the Primera Division top scorer during the 2021/22 season.

2. Jay Jay Okocha

all time sports Personalities in Nigeria

Augustine Azuka Okocha, commonly known as Jay-Jay Okocha, is a Nigerian former professional footballer who played as an attacking midfielder. He won 73 caps for the Nigeria national team between 1993 and 2006, scoring 14 goals, and was a member of three FIFA World Cup squads. He is widely considered one of the greatest footballers to ever grace a football pitch in Nigeria, Jay Jay Okocha is well-loved among fans in the country. Blessed with sublime skills during his playing days, Okocha endeared himself to Nigerians with his ability to leave opponents and fans in awe with some mesmerizing pieces of footwork.

Since retiring, Okocha has taken up several roles away from the pitch. He has been very visible in the betting space as he is the face of Betking.

3. Tobi Amusan

top sport personalities in Nigeria

Tobi Amusan is one of Nigeria’s brightest lights in track & field in recent years, specializing in the 100 metres hurdles and competing as a sprinter. She became Nigeria’s first-ever World champion and world record holder in 2022 when she won gold in the 100 metres hurdles at the World Championship in Eugene Oregon, running a time of 12.12 seconds in the semi-final.

4. Nwankwo Kanu

Nigeria’s top Sports Personalities

Nwankwo Kanu is an icon of Nigerian football having burst onto the scene at the FIFA U-17 World Cup in 1993. He is one of the most talented players the country has ever produced and captained the National U-23 team to Olympic gold in 1996.

Affectionately known as Papilo to his millions of fans in Nigeria, Kanu is a two-time winner of the African Footballer of the Year award.

Also, he won the Eredivisie and UEFA Champions League with Ajax and lifted three Premier League titles with Arsenal.

Kanu is also known for his philanthropy, setting up the Kanu Heart Foundation after his own experience with a congenital heart defect. The foundation aims to tackle homelessness and treat children with undiagnosed heart disease. Nwankwo KanuKanu is one of the most naturally gifted football players to have come out of Africa.

5. Rashidi Yekini

sports personalities in Nigeria

Rashidi Yekini considered the greatest Nigerian striker of all time and one of the best African players of all time had a career that spanned nearly 20 years.

He is the all-time leading scorer for the Super Eagles with 37 goals and has the honour of netting Nigeria’s first-ever World Cup goal when he scored the opener against Bulgaria in the USA in 1994.

Yekini had unprecedented individual success, which made him African Footballer of the Year, the first ever for Nigeria in 1993. The following year, he led the Super Eagles of Nigeria to the Africa Cup of Nations title in Tunisia, winning the golden boot and being named the best player of the tournament. Yekini died in the year 2012 at the age of 48 after a lengthy period of illness

6. Mikel Obi

Mikel John Obi is a Nigerian former professional footballer who played as a defensive midfielder. Mikel began his career with local club Plateau United, before joining Norwegian club Lyn at the age of 17 in 2004.

7. Blessing Okagbare

top nigeria sport personality

Blessing Okagbare also known as Blessing Oghnewresem Okagbare-Otegheri is a former Nigerian track and field athlete who specialized in long jump and sprints. She is an Olympic and World Championships medallist in the long jump and a world medalist in the 200 metres.

8. Chioma Ajunwa

top Nigeria Sport personality of all time

Chioma Ajunwa also known as Chioma Ajunwa Opara is a Nigerian former track and field athlete and football player, notable for becoming the first Nigerian to win gold at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, and the first black African woman to win an Olympic gold medal in a field event.

9. Stephen Keshi

nigeria Sport Personalies

Stephen Okechukwu Keshi was a Nigerian football player and manager, during his playing career, he won the WAFU Cup twice, before moving to Cote d’Ivoire where he won the League and Cup with Stade d’Abidjan and then Africa Sports. From there he moved to Belgian giants Anderlecht, winning one League title and two Cup titles.

Keshi became the longest-serving Nigeria captain, leading the team to the African Nations Cup title in 1994 and qualifying for the World Cup that year, retiring with 60 caps, then the second-highest appearance of any Nigerian behind Muda Lawal. He returned as coach, winning Nations Cup bronze and qualifying for the 2002 World Cup as assistant to Shuiabu Amodu, then helping Togo qualify for the World Cup, before going on to become only the second former player to win Afcon as a coach when he guided the Super Eagles to the title in 2013. Keshi had a heart attack and died en route to the hospital on 7 June 2016 in Benin City.

10. Taribo West

top sport all-time personalities in Nigeria

Taribo West is a Nigerian pastor and former professional footballer who played as a defender. He is best remembered for his various unusual and colourful hairstyles. After winning several major trophies with Auxerre in French football, West went on to play for both Milanese clubs, Inter Milan and AC Milan.

Top 10 Nigeria Sports Personalities Of All Time

1. Asisat Oshoala
2. Jay Jay Okocha
3. Tobi Amusan
4. Nwankwo Kanu
5. Rashidi Yekini
6. Mikel Obi
7. Blessing Okagbare
8. Chioma Ajunwa (Multi-Sport)
9. Stephen Keshi
10. Taribo West

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