by Wilfred Okiche

When it comes to sports, these young men and women pack all the punches and score all the goals. From football pitches to boxing rings, track and field to sports reportage, everyone wants one of these people on their team. All hail the new rangers of the sports industry!

Ayo Alli

A former business development consultant at Goal.com, Alli is the founder of the football mobile networking site Gbamm. After spending sometime monetizing Goal.com’s football audience, Alli who has also worked for Eskimi, founded Gbamm out of a need to apply his experience into developing skills capacity and jobs. He hopes to turn it into a Twitter-like platform for football fans, where everyone is welcome to rant. In his free time, Alli also works as a football agent.

Biola Kazeem

When you are talking football, Biola Kazeem is the man. As CEO of Elev8 Sports, Kazeem oversees a sports media consultancy firm where he is involved in content provision and production, marketing and public relations for Nigeria’s leading sports brands. He has done editorial work for the official Manchester United magazine, One United, HiTV as well as the BBC World Service. Most recently he handled exclusive coverage of the 2013 Nations Cup for GTBank’s Ndani TV.

 

Blessing Okagbare

Nigeria’s biggest track athlete to play in the big leagues since the likes of Mary Onyali-Omagbemi and Falilat Ogunkoya. Okagbare is the reigning African queen of the sprint. She won the 100 metres final at the London Anniversary games, beating Olympic champion Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce and eclipsing the 5 year record set by Glory Alozie. At the 2013 World Championships in Moscow, Okagbare won the silver medal in the long jump with a record of 6.99 m and was honoured by president Jonathan for her efforts. All eyes are on her for a successful outing in Rio 2016.

Chisom Mbonu

Mbonu is the first female FIFA licensed agent in Nigeria and is also one of the most popular faces on sports television. As a presenter on SuperSport Nigeria, she anchors some of the biggest league games in the world and holds her own alongside accomplished veterans like Charles Anazodo, Victor Ikpeba and Collins Udoh. An avid tennis and athletics follower, Mbonu is presently the media officer of the Super Falcons, the female national football team.

John Mikel Obi

The Chelsea midfielder may not be known for scoring goals with prolific efficiency but he has steadily built his profile as one of the most successful African football players of his generation, joining Chelsea FC in Europe Championship and Premiership victories. One of the most decorated players on the continent, Obi was also part of Nigeria’s African Cup of Nations winning team in 2013 and starred in an Amstel Malta sponsored film ‘The Journey’ alongside Genevieve Nnaji. Who cares that he scores goals once in every 4 years?

Enobong Umohette

This United States based Nigerian boxer hails from Akwa Ibom state. Umohette has been a bright spot in boxing for Nigeria, defeating former USA Olympian Dante Craig to capture the UBF International Heavyweight boxing title in November. The ‘Nigerian Gentleman’, as he is fondly called, turned professional in 2009 and in 2010 clinched the Wisconsin State Heavyweight Boxing title after a sensational seven round battle with the former Champion, Lyle McDowell.

Kelechi Iheanacho

This 17 year old football prodigy was named the Glo/CAF Most promising player of the year after a breakout year that saw him lift the Under-17 World Cup title and emerge second highest goal scorer. He promptly sparked an international bidding war between major international clubs before signing a pre-contract with top flight English Premier League team, Manchester City. A lot is expected from this boy wonder.

Vincent Enyeama

The country’s goal keeper has been top choice since 2004, after the retirement of Ike Shorunmu. Enyeama brings a steady presence to the goal posts and has saved the country on more than one occasions from near disastrous outings. As the active captain of the national team, Enyeama led the Super Eagles to their third continental victory in 2013 and has been a Goal.com World Player of the Week. He currently plays for a club in Israel but shuttles into the country whenever his super fast catching services are needed.

Oluwashina Okeleji

Okeleji is an African correspondent with the British Broadcasting Corporation World Service where he covers football and other sporting news extensively and files numerous stories with the network. He is also a freelance work sports journalist and has covered some of the biggest sporting stories on the planet. Name the sporting moment, and chances are Okeleji was there to capture it for his large audience.

Samson Adamu

This fast rising entrepreneur is the brain and chief executive officer of Kinetic Sports, organisers of the annual Copa Lagos Beach Soccer event. Tagged as Africa’s biggest soccer and event, Copa Lagos boasts a fusion of football, music and fashion and attracts teams from Africa, Europe and South America. A scion of a former football administrator, Amos Adamu, his achievements has been sullied by rumours of corruption and graft. However, even his detractors do not deny that with Copa Lagos which has run annually for the past three years, Adamu definitely knows how to put on a good show.