Nigeria’s Absence from African Women’s Rugby Cup Sparks Call for Urgent Action

By Ntiense Williams ( Mr. Rugby)

Tunisia opens West and North Africa Division 1 Rugby Championship with an emphatic 85-0 win over Côte d’Ivoire as advocates question Nigeria’s fading presence in women’s rugby

The three-nation West and North Africa Championship continues on 12 May with Morocco facing Côte d’Ivoire, and concludes on 16 May when hosts Tunisia meet Morocco to determine the division winner.

The result has reignited questions about Nigeria’s absence from the regional competition.

Where is Nigeria?

Nigeria featured in the inaugural North and West African Women’s Rugby Tournament in Ghana in 2009, which Tunisia also won. In that round-robin event, Nigeria defeated both Ghana and Egypt before losing 22-5 to a Tunisian side returning from the Hong Kong Sevens Rugby Tournament. Notably, Nigeria was the only team to score against Tunisia in that tournament.

Since then, Nigeria’s presence in mainstream African women’s rugby has declined. At the 2024 All Africa Games in Ghana, the national women’s rugby team lost all group matches, including to Ghana; a nation Nigeria supported in developing its rugby program in 2008.

Growth Interrupted

Women’s rugby in Nigeria began in 2003 at Young Lions Rugby Football Club, based at the National Stadium, Surulere, Lagos, under the titulage of Obong Ntiense Williams, popularly known as “Mr Rugby.” The sport spread to Ajegunle with Eco II RFC and Hawkstars RFC, then to Edo and Delta States towards the 2006 Gateway Games, and later to clubs in Kaduna, Jos, Zaria, Kano, Niger, Benue, Abuja, Abia, Imo, Akwa Ibom, Rivers, Cross River, Bayelsa, Osun, Ogun, and Kwara. Teams from these states have competed in the National Championship and National Sports Festival respectively.

The first national women’s rugby tournament was hosted by Friends of Rugby during Nigeria’s 50th Independence celebrations, 1–3 October 2010, at the National Stadium, Surulere. When rugby became a scoring event at the National Sports Festival, Edo State won all three gold medals at the Gateway Games, while Delta State claimed two of three Gold medals at the 2009 Kada Games.

At the National Youth Games, Edo State girls have remained champions in every edition attended, while Kano State dominates the U-15 boys’ category.

Rugby League Shows a Different Path

Nigeria’s women’s Rugby League team, the Green Falcons, has achieved greater continental and global success. The side has beaten Ghana home and away and qualified for the Rugby League World Series held in Canada, where it defeated Ireland and lost narrowly to Fiji in the final.

The team narrowly missed qualification for this year’s Rugby League World Cup. But is a household name in Africa.

Setback at the National Sports Festival

Advocates say progress is being undermined by the omission of rugby from the forthcoming National Sports Festival in Enugu State even as Rugby alongside other Olympic team sports such as handball, hockey, and volleyball are missing.

At the last edition in Ogun State, the Director General of the National Sports Commission Hon.Bukola Olopade attempted to include rugby, but state Directors of Sports removed it on technical grounds, citing missed pre-festival team sports eliminations.

Call to Action: Include All Olympic Sports in Nigeria’s National Sports Festival

“We’re asking the National Sports Commission to include every Olympic sport in Nigeria’s Olympics; the National Sports Festival,” said Obong Ntiense Williams. “This is the country’s premier multi-sport event. It’s where every state gets a chance to compete for recognized national medals.

Right now, many states don’t sponsor individual events at federation championships, and team sports get even less attention.”

Williams also called for a dedicated Team Sports National Festival, modeled on the Para Games, to give team sports a proper platform and boost development at the state level.

With over 230 million people and more than 60% under 25, Nigeria can’t afford to get this wrong. Investing in sports, especially team sports, shapes how people feel day to day and how society functions. The payoff shows up in two main areas: health and social development.

1. Health benefits at scale

Regular participation builds physical health across the population. It improves motor skills, balance, and bone density early in life, reduces preventable injuries, and increases body literacy. It also strengthens mental health by sharpening cognitive function and acting as a buffer against stress and anxiety, which helps lower obesity rates nationwide.

2. Social development through teamwork

Team sports are practical training in trust, cooperation, and discipline. Players learn to follow rules, respect referees, stick to schedules, and accept consequences for breaking them. That’s direct, lived experience with rule-based systems.

It’s also a low-stakes environment to practice coordination under pressure, reading cues, deferring to a plan, and covering for teammates. Those habits transfer directly to workplaces, civic groups, and public institutions.

3. Talent pipelines and national soft power

Beyond the grassroots level, success in team sports gives countries visible, non-military achievements that build national cohesion and international recognition. Think of football’s role in Brazil or rugby’s role in New Zealand.

Nigeria won’t succeed in team sports on the continental or global stage unless we take them seriously at home,” Williams said. “That means including them in our major national games, especially our own ‘Nigeria Olympics’, the National Sports Festival.”