FROM October 10th, 2026
ABUJA, 10 October 2026 – On World Mental Health Day, LifeLine International and its Global Honorary Patron, Her Excellency Mrs Toyin Ojora Saraki, welcome the outcomes of a High-Level Roundtable on Suicide Decriminalisation and Crisis Support in Nigeria, jointly convened with the Royal Norwegian Embassy and the Australian High Commission in Abuja on 7 October 2026.
Hosted at the residence of His Excellency Mr Svein Bæra, Ambassador of the Kingdom of Norway, and opened by His Excellency Mr David Port, Acting High Commissioner of Australia, the closed roundtable brought together representatives of diplomatic missions, the United Nations, former and serving legislators, the Association of Psychiatrists in Nigeria, legal and justice-sector organisations, and LifeLine International’s Nigerian Members, the Asido Foundation and the Suicide Research and Prevention Initiative.
The convening follows the decision of the Federal Executive Council, under the leadership of His Excellency President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, GCFR, on 19 August 2026 to approve a proposed amendment to the National Mental Health Act to decriminalise attempted suicide, which is to be transmitted to the National Assembly as an executive bill. Participants commended the Coordinating Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Professor Muhammad Ali Pate, the Honourable Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, and the National Task Force on the Decriminalisation of Attempted Suicide, established on World Mental Health Day two years ago.
Professor Taiwo Lateef Sheikh, LifeLine International Africa Lead, presented global evidence from countries that have reformed their laws, including Ghana and Malaysia, both of which decriminalised attempted suicide in 2023. That experience shows that when the law stops punishing people at their most vulnerable, help-seeking increases, stigma reduces and lives are saved.
Discussions focused on implementation readiness as the amendment proceeds to the National Assembly, including guidance for police and prosecutors during the transition, the recording of suicide attempts as health events to strengthen national data, and the expansion of toll-free crisis helpline access across the Federation.
In Nigeria, attempted suicide remains punishable under Section 327 of the Criminal Code and Section 231 of the Penal Code. The Federal Government estimates that more than 7,000 Nigerians die by suicide each year, with around 300,000 attempts.
Her Excellency Mrs Toyin Ojora Saraki, Global Honorary Patron of LifeLine International, said:
“Reform of the law opens the door, and what lies beyond that door must be ready to receive people. That means a crisis line that answers at any hour and in the languages Nigerians speak, health workers trained to recognise distress, and police and prosecutors who understand that attempted suicide is a health matter. I am deeply grateful to Australia and Norway for standing alongside Nigeria, and to every advocate, clinician and survivor whose voice has brought us to this moment. This year’s World Mental Health Day theme reminds us that lived experiences must be heard, and Nigeria now has the opportunity to show the continent and the world that a nation can meet distress with dignity.”
His Excellency Mr David Port, Acting High Commissioner of Australia, said:
” The proposed decriminalisation of attempted suicide reflects an important principle: when someone is in profound distress, they should be met with care and support, not punishment. Australia welcomes Nigeria’s efforts to advance this reform and recognises the leadership shown by government, legislators, mental health professionals and civil society advocates. Decriminalisation is a vital step, but it must be accompanied by accessible services, community support and crisis intervention so that people feel able to seek help when they need it most.”
His Excellency Mr Svein Bæra, Ambassador of the Kingdom of Norway, said:
“Norway strongly supports efforts that place human dignity, public health and evidence-based policy at the centre of decision-making. Mental health is an integral part of health coverage and an essential component of human wellbeing. Norway is encouraged by the shared commitment towards reform. Decriminalisation should be accompanied by accessible crisis support, effective referral systems, and efforts to reduce stigma. We believe that each of us has a role to play in helping turn legislative reform into meaningful change for the people and communities of Nigeria.”
Thilini Perera, Chief Executive Officer of LifeLine International, said:
“Nigeria is a key partner in our global commitment to strengthening compassionate responses to suicide, and this roundtable reflects the collective effort supporting ongoing reform. We appreciate the collaboration of the Australian High Commission, the Royal Norwegian Embassy, and our Global Honorary Patron, Her Excellency Toyin Saraki, in convening this discussion. We commend our LifeLine International Members in Nigeria, whose leadership continues to advance this work. Lifeline International remains committed to standing alongside Nigerian stakeholders as they pursue approaches that promote dignity, safety, and crisis support for all communities.”
If you or someone you know is struggling, please reach out. In Nigeria, confidential support is available through the Suicide Research and Prevention Initiative (SURPIN) (call 0800 800 2000), the Asido Foundation (Call +2349028080416) and the Mentally Aware Nigeria Initiative (MANI) on 0809 111 6264.
Media Contact
H.E. Toyin Saraki Global Policy & Philanthropy Office
Zelia Bukhari
zelia.bukhari@wbfafrica.org
FROM June 22nd, 2026
NCR (Nigeria) Plc has announced the appointment of Her Excellency, Mrs Toyin Ojora Saraki, as a Non-Executive Director on its Board of Directors, effective June 11, 2026. The Board approved the appointment by written resolution dated June 11, 2026, and the appointment remains subject to ratification by shareholders at the Company’s next Annual General Meeting (AGM).
Mrs Saraki brings extensive leadership, governance, and public policy experience to the Board. Her appointment is expected to strengthen the Company’s corporate governance framework and support its strategic objectives as it continues to navigate a dynamic business environment.
Her Excellency, Mrs Toyin Ojora Saraki, is the Founder-President of The Wellbeing Foundation Africa (WBFA), a global advocate for women’s and children’s health and empowerment, with over two decades of leadership and advocacy spanning reproductive, maternal, newborn, child and adolescent health; the elimination of gender-based discrimination and violence; and the advancement of education, socio-economic empowerment, and community livelihoods across sub-Saharan Africa.
Mrs Saraki is the Inaugural and Emeritus Global Goodwill Ambassador for the International Confederation of Midwives. She serves as Special Advisor and member of the Independent Advisory Group of the World Health Organisation Regional Office for Africa. She is the UNFPA Nigeria Family Planning Champion, the Save the Children Newborn Health Champion for Nigeria, and a Global Champion for the White Ribbon Alliance for Safe Motherhood. She was named a Universal Health Coverage Global Champion by Devex. She is a member of the International Steering Committee of ICPD25 and was appointed the Inaugural Global Health Ambassador of the WHO Foundation in 2022.
At the global governance level, Mrs Saraki serves on the Board of Trustees of Seed Global Health, and she’s a member of the Bayer Sustainability Council and the AstraZeneca Global Breast Cancer Care Council. In 2024, she was appointed a Champion of the World Economic Forum Global Alliance for Women’s Health and serves as a member of the World Economic Forum Global Activators Network on Women’s Health. She is an Inaugural Leadership Council Member of Africa REACH, a Leadership Council Member of Concordia, a Judge for MIT Solve as Challenge Leader for Maternal and Newborn Health, and an Inaugural Member of the African Women Leaders Network and African Women Leaders Network Nigeria. She is the Honorary Global Patron of LifeLine International and serves on the Advisory Board of Every Pregnancy.
Mrs Saraki brings to the Board a strong combination of legal expertise, international governance experience, and strategic leadership across the private, public, and multilateral sectors.
The Board and Management of the Company expressed confidence in Mrs Saraki and wish her all the best as she takes on her new appointment.
FROM June 18th, 2026
Reckitt Nigeria (Reckitt Benckiser Nigeria Limited) has announced the appointment of H.E. Mrs Toyin Ojora Saraki and Prince Abimbola Olashore as Independent Non-Executive Directors, further strengthening the company’s Board as it continues to advance its strategic priorities across Nigeria.
The appointments follow the passing of the company’s Board Chairman, the late Chief Michael Olumuyiwa Falomo, whose leadership and stewardship contributed significantly to the growth and governance of Reckitt Nigeria over several decades. The company acknowledges his enduring legacy and service to the organisation.
Mrs Toyin Ojora Saraki is the Founder-President of The Wellbeing Foundation Africa and a globally recognised advocate for women’s and children’s health, with over two decades of leadership spanning maternal, newborn, and child health, gender equity, and community wellbeing. She serves as Inaugural Global Health Ambassador for the WHO Foundation and holds advisory and leadership roles across global institutions including the World Health Organization, World Economic Forum, AstraZeneca Global Breast Cancer Care Council, and Bayer Sustainability Council. Her extensive experience in public health, sustainability, and development brings valuable insight to the Board as Reckitt continues its mission to protect, heal, and nurture communities.
Prince Abimbola Olashore is a Chartered Accountant and an accomplished financial services leader with over three decades of experience spanning banking, investment management, and corporate advisory. He is currently the Founder and Chief Executive Officer at Lead Capital Plc, and has held numerous senior leadership positions, including Executive Director at Ecobank Transnational Group and Chief Executive Officer of Lead Advisory Group, where he successfully drove strategic growth and organisational transformation.
He currently serves as President and Chairman of Council of the Nigerian British Chamber of Commerce, Deputy President of the Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry, and Council Member as well as Chairman of the Environment, Social and Governance Committee of the Chartered Institute of Directors. Prince Abimbola Olashore brings deep expertise in financial strategy, corporate governance, and institutional leadership, making him exceptionally well-positioned to support the company’s strategic direction and long-term growth objectives.
“We are pleased to welcome Her Excellency, Mrs Toyin Ojora Saraki and Prince Abimbola Olashore to the Board of Reckitt Nigeria. Their diverse experience and perspectives will further strengthen the Board and support the company’s continued focus on sustainable growth, innovation and positive impact across Nigeria.”
— Akbar Ali-Shah, Managing Director, Reckitt West Africa
The appointments further reinforce Reckitt Nigeria’s governance framework while bringing additional expertise to support the company’s long-term strategic ambitions.
Cassandra Uzo-Ogbugh
+234 908 783 2407
Head External Communications & Partnership
FROM May 27th, 2026
The Wellbeing Foundation Africa welcomes the appointment of its Founder-President to a continental leadership role dedicated to mobilising African-driven solutions in the HIV response and broader health system strengthening across the region.
The Wellbeing Foundation Africa is pleased to announce that its Founder-President, Her Excellency Mrs Toyin Ojora Saraki, has been appointed Co-Chair of the Africa REACH Leadership Council, a pan-African initiative dedicated to amplifying youth voices and accelerating progress towards an AIDS-free generation. The announcement was made on Africa Day, 25 May 2026, in Cape Town, South Africa, and represents a significant affirmation of H.E. Mrs Saraki’s long-standing commitment to community-centred health leadership on the African continent.
H.E. Mrs Saraki will serve alongside Reverend Godson Kpavuvu, Vice President of the All Africa Conference of Churches, in a co-chair model that deliberately unites faith-based community reach with public health systems expertise. This partnership reflects Africa REACH’s conviction that durable health transformation requires both the trust of grassroots communities and the rigour of evidence-based advocacy operating at the highest levels of continental and global governance.
“Ending AIDS in Africa is not only a global health priority but a continental imperative. I am honoured to co-lead Africa REACH in mobilising African solutions, strengthening community leadership, and ensuring that every child and young person has the opportunity to live a long and healthy life.”
— H.E. Mrs Toyin Ojora Saraki, Founder-President, Wellbeing Foundation Africa
For over two decades, WBFA has led community-grounded programming across maternal, newborn and child health, nutrition, and, increasingly, adolescent and youth health in Nigeria and across the African continent. H.E. Mrs Saraki’s appointment to the ARLC co-chairship extends this work into a pivotal continental forum, ensuring that WBFA’s implementation experience and its commitment to locally grounded practice inform advocacy at the highest level of the African health policy agenda.
Africa REACH’s mandate is closely aligned with the African Union’s Agenda 2063: The Africa We Want, and the Council’s work is anchored in youth-driven advocacy, stigma reduction, expanded access to care, and the building of networks that shape policy at the national and continental level. H.E. Mrs Saraki’s leadership role positions WBFA’s voice and programme evidence directly within that normative direction.
H.E. Mrs Saraki assumes the co-chair role from Her Excellency Mrs Monica Geingos, whose leadership of Africa REACH has been instrumental in advancing the Council’s continental mandate. WBFA warmly congratulates Mrs Geingos on her appointment to the Partnership for Maternal, Newborn and Child Health (PMNCH) and wishes her every success in that important role.
WBFA extends its congratulations to Reverend Kpavuvu on his continued role as co-chair and looks forward to the partnership this appointment inaugurates, as we work with Africa REACH and the Leadership Council to ensure that no young person on the continent is left behind in the global effort to end AIDS.
The Wellbeing Foundation Africa is a leading African health and development organisation founded by H.E. Mrs Toyin Ojora Saraki. Operating at the intersection of community programming and health advocacy, WBFA works to advance reproductive, maternal, newborn, child and adolescent health (RMNCAH), nutrition, and disease prevention across Nigeria and Africa. Through its programmes, policy engagement, and multilateral advocacy, WBFA is committed to ensuring that African women, children, and young people have access to the quality care they deserve. For further information, please visit www.wbfafrica.org.
Africa REACH is a pan-African initiative dedicated to mobilising young people in the effort to end HIV/AIDS. Its mandate is to amplify youth voices, strengthen advocacy, and build networks that influence policy and accelerate progress towards an AIDS-free generation. By anchoring its mission in African leadership and youth-driven solutions, Africa REACH works to dismantle stigma, expand access to care, and ensure that the next generation is equipped to lead the continent’s public health response. For further information, please visit www.africareach.org.
Zelia Bukhari
Director, Global Health Policy & Advocacy
The Toyin Saraki Global Policy and Philanthropy Office | The Wellbeing Foundation Africa
zelia.bukhari@wbfafrica.org
FROM May 22nd, 2026
Geneva, Switzerland- During the World Health Organization’s 79th World Health Assembly, the Wellbeing Foundation Africa and Proximie Global Health signed a Memorandum of Understanding to digitise and extend Nigeria’s obstetric workforce. The partnership was convened by the Health Innovation Exchange and supported by Amazon Web Services through the Proximie x AWS Social Responsibility and Impact Initiative.
The signing was witnessed by an exceptional gathering of multilateral, continental, regional and national leaders, bringing together Dr. Pavel Ursu, WHO Country Representative for Nigeria, H.E. Governors Stephen Sang of Nandi County and Muthomi Njuki of Tharaka-Nithi County, Dr. Dayo Adeyanju of MAMII Nigeria, Dr. Abas Hassen of Ethiopia’s Federal Ministry of Health, Ms. Mary Mwiti, Chief Executive Officer of the Council of Governors of Kenya, Dr. Michael Mwachiro of the Surgical Society of Kenya, Professor Joseph Adelegan of Partners in Population and Development, Dr. Patty Mechael of health.enabled, Claire Lachance of ReSurge International, Kat Esser of Amazon Web Services, and Laura Ferguson of the University of Southern California.
Phase one commits to establishing a digital simulation hub at WBFA’s Lagos Centre of Excellence, integrated within the Advanced Obstetric Surgical Skills and Emergency Obstetric and Newborn Care training WBFA delivers with the National Postgraduate Medical College of Nigeria and the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, providing live expert training, recorded cases for faculty-led debrief, and a bi-directional learning loop so that what trainees encounter in their home facilities reshapes the next training cycle. Fewer maternal and newborn deaths is the measure of its success. The partnership brings together Proximie’s 50 AWS-powered digital hubs across seven African countries and WBFA’s over two decades of frontline programming.
“Nigeria contributes approximately one in four maternal deaths globally, and the majority of those deaths are from conditions that are clinically preventable with timely, skilled care. WBFA has worked for over two decades to close that gap at the community level, and this partnership with Proximie is the next step in that work, bringing digital simulation, live expert training, and a bi-directional learning architecture into the hands of the Nigerian obstetric workforce at the scale the challenge demands. What moved me most was the willingness of Nigeria, Kenya and Ethiopia to share what works across their borders, on their own terms, with the shared goal of ensuring that no mother dies from a cause we already know how to prevent.” H.E. Mrs Toyin Ojora Saraki, Founder and President, the Wellbeing Foundation Africa.
“Proximie believes no clinician should have to learn alone, and this partnership is the fullest expression of that mission we have yet committed to. By integrating Proximie’s platform into WBFA’s existing training infrastructure, we are building the connective digital layer that allows world-class surgical and obstetrical training to reach the facilities, the faculty, and the frontline health workers who need it most, and the conversation that followed the signing confirmed that the political will to scale this model continentally is real and present.” Dr. Shannon Shibata-Germanos, Head of Global Health, Proximie.
About the Wellbeing Foundation Africa
The Wellbeing Foundation Africa (WBFA), is a non-governmental organisation at the forefront of driving positive health outcomes and transformative wellbeing across Nigeria and the African continent. Since its inception in 2004 by Her Excellency Mrs. Toyin Ojora Saraki, WBFA has been implementing frontline programming and advocating for health and wellbeing while championing sustainable development initiatives.
About Proximie
Proximie is a cloud-based operating room (OR) intelligence platform designed to connect surgical teams, workflows, devices, and perioperative data across the OR environment, and across hospitals worldwide. Its mission is to solve healthcare’s most pressing challenges: from access to safe surgery to workforce pressures, OR efficiency, and patient demand.
Proximie’s Intelligence Suite transforms OR performance through real-time surgical intelligence, using computer vision and AI to detect surgical events, improve OR efficiency, and power clinical insights. On average, using the Intelligence Suite, Proximie customers gain one additional surgical case per OR per day, by revealing the hidden capacity that is available in any given OR. Proximie’s Surgical Suite, which is used across Africa, provides healthcare teams with real-time remote access and a secure video archive of every procedure, improving real-time surgical knowledge exchange, training and collaboration. Proximie has been deployed in over 500 hospitals across 50 countries and five continents, and has been featured in more than 20 peer-reviewed publications. In Africa, Proximie has been deployed in 50 ORs.
About the Health Innovation Exchange
The Health Innovation Exchange is a cross-sector convening platform that architects partnerships for scalable health system impact, bringing together governments, multilateral institutions, civil society, and private sector partners to advance evidence-led approaches to global health challenges.
For media enquiries please contact: The Wellbeing Foundation Africa at zelia.bukhari@wbfafrica.org.
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FROM April 21st, 2026
H.E. Toyin Ojora Saraki, Founder-President, Wellbeing Foundation Africa Published in commemoration of the International Day of Sport for Development and Peace, 6 April 2026 Theme – Sport: Building Bridges, Breaking Barriers
On 6 April each year, the world pauses to acknowledge a truth that many communities already know, which is that sport, at its finest, is far more than competition. It is a meeting place, a classroom, a clinic, and a place of belonging. The United Nations designates this day the International Day of Sport for Development and Peace, and for 2026 the theme is one I hold with particular personal resonance, Sport: Building Bridges, Breaking Barriers, a phrase I have not merely observed from afar but have spent twenty years attempting to make real in the lives of young Nigerians.
The designation is a call to evidence. It asks every actor in the sport-for-development space, whether governments, foundations, civil society organisations or private patrons, to account for what they have actually built and for whom. This essay is my account, and it spans two decades of work by the Wellbeing Foundation Africa, the Alaafia Kwara initiative, and the broader community of partners with whom I have had the privilege of working, undertaken in Nigeria from 2004 to the present day.
When WBFA was founded in 2004, the global development community was organised around the Millennium Development Goals. MDG 3 called for gender equality and the empowerment of women. MDG 2 sought universal primary education. MDG 6 is centred on health and disease prevention. Sport was absent from the formal text of those goals, yet thoughtful practitioners recognised that it offered a practical and powerful entry point into all three, particularly in communities where formal institutions had not yet reached. In Kwara State, where WBFA first anchored its community programmes under the Alaafia Kwara initiative, the starting conditions were unambiguous, with limited sports infrastructure, minimal institutional support for women’s or girls’ athletics, and almost no provision for children with disabilities. This was a reality common across much of Nigeria. What followed over the next seven years was a steady, deliberate commitment to creating access where there was none, visibility where there was invisibility, and opportunity where the door had not yet opened.
The first and, to my mind, most consequential strand of this engagement was the inclusion of children with disabilities in structured physical activity. As early as 2004, WBFA began supporting the Kwara State School for Special Needs, providing a school bus to facilitate the physical attendance of children in remote or hard-to-reach areas and making contributions to improve the school’s facilities and the wellbeing of both children and their families. Recreation and play, understood as integral to holistic child development, were central to this engagement from the very beginning. By 2005, that work had deepened into structured sport. WBFA hosted the first sports workshop at the school for special needs and organised a national sports meeting in Kwara State for Special Olympics children from across Nigeria, with free medical screenings integrated into the sporting activities, reflecting the foundational conviction that sport and health are inseparable, above all when working with children who have disabilities. In 2007, engagement with Special Olympics Nigeria continued through participation in the Family Awareness and Demonstrative Sports event and the Road to China 2007 Farewell Reception, which honoured Nigerian Special Olympics athletes preparing for international competition, while WBFA also supported the commissioning of new facilities at the school in Ilorin. In 2009, participation in the Hope Games for the physically challenged and the Special Olympics North-Central Regional Games extended this thread further, with health screening again provided for participating children. Taken together, what this record represents is a sustained, multi-year commitment to the proposition that disability must preclude nothing, and that before the global community had formally named reduced inequalities or inclusive education as development imperatives, we were putting those principles into practice on a sports field in Ilorin.
The second strand of our MDG-era engagement was women’s football. During the Kwara State period of 2003 to 2011, WBFA supported the development of women’s football structures in the state, sustaining a female football team through patronage and institutional backing at a time when very few organisations were willing to do so. The context of that period must be stated clearly because in women’s football, context is everything. Women’s football in Nigeria at that time faced chronic underfunding, social resistance, and minimal institutional legitimacy. Creating a visible, competitive, state-associated women’s team was, in that environment, an act of genuine institutional courage. It said to every girl watching that women’s football in their state was organised, taken seriously, and worthy of recognition, and the contribution of that visible commitment to the broader culture of women’s participation in sport in Kwara continues to be felt today.
Alongside the football work, 2005 brought one of the most strategically significant interventions of the entire MDG era, which was WBFA’s founding financial contribution of one million naira toward the establishment of the Nigeria Netball Federation, and my subsequent appointment as Patron of Netball in Nigeria by the Federal Ministry of Sports. This was a role grounded in strategic conviction rather than ceremony. Girls’ sport in Nigeria required expansion beyond football, multiple pathways to participation were necessary, and netball, with its school-compatible format, minimal equipment requirements, and strong global network, was an ideal vehicle for that expansion. A decade later, in 2015, that initial investment bore visible fruit when WBFA partnered with Netball Nigeria and the Bringing Netball Back initiative to participate in an Introductory Netball Umpiring Course and a Charity Netball Tournament held at the Mobolaji Johnson Sports Centre in Lagos, facilitated by Hellen Manufor, Secretary of the Nigerian Netball Federation and herself a former England netball player. That work evolved further into NINJA’s Netball, Nigeria’s Intermediate Netball Junior Activities for Schools, a programme delivered in partnership with UNICEF and the Nigeria Netball Federation under the theme Build Teams and Change Lives, bringing structured, school-based netball to girls aged seven to twelve across the country. The resonance of that programme, seen in its full context, is considerable: a sport designed for girls’ empowerment, delivered through schools, supported by one of the world’s leading institutions for child welfare, rooted in a decade of patient foundational investment.
By 2011, when the most intensive phase of WBFA’s Kwara-based sports work drew to a close, the foundations were established. Women’s football had been given institutional visibility. Netball had been introduced as a national sport under WBFA’s patronage. Children with special needs had been given structured sporting opportunity, and Special Olympics Nigeria had been supported as a genuine national programme. These were investments in access, in visibility, and in the right of every young person to participate, and they anticipated by nearly a decade what the global community would eventually codify in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.
When the formal First Lady tenure came to a close, the question that follows any office-linked social programme was unavoidable, which is whether the work continues. Too often in Nigeria, community programmes tied to political office dissolve when the office changes. WBFA was built, from its founding, to resist that pattern. Between 2011 and 2015, the foundation’s sports engagement became less visible in formal reporting as WBFA’s primary focus deepened into maternal and newborn health, child rights, and education advocacy, but youth engagement through play, movement, and structured community activity remained woven into WBFA’s programming through the Alaafia Kwara initiative. The transition period carried a deeper significance, demonstrating that WBFA’s work in sport was grounded in civil society conviction rather than in political proximity. Institutions built on advocacy and purpose endure beyond the offices their founders happen to hold, and WBFA was designed precisely for that endurance.
In 2015, two developments occurred that would shape the decade to follow. The world adopted the Sustainable Development Goals, and within them, sport was formally recognised for the first time as an important enabler of sustainable development. The SDG era gave WBFA a more precise vocabulary for work that had been underway for over a decade, with SDG 3 capturing what we had always understood about sport as a physical and psychosocial health intervention, SDG 4 capturing the school-based engagement model pursued from the beginning, SDG 5 providing a global framework for the women’s football patronage and the netball investment built in Kwara, SDG 10 naming what the Special Olympics and special needs work had always been about, and SDG 17 describing the collaborative, multi-stakeholder model that had always underpinned our approach. The language was new. The work was not.
The most visible and sustained SDG-era sport-for-development initiative associated with my name is the Toyin Ojora-Saraki Baseball and Softball Championship, an independent, non-government initiative delivered in partnership with Double T Baseball and Softball Nigeria and the Nigeria Baseball and Softball Association. The first major championship was held in Ilorin, Kwara State in 2018, at the Adewale Park, bringing together over one thousand athletes from fifteen states across Nigeria, competing at both Under-18 and senior levels, with free feeding, accommodation and local transportation provided for all young participants, reflecting a full athlete welfare model. The stated objectives of the organising body were unambiguous, encompassing the discouragement of youths from social vices, the development of young talent across secondary schools, and the identification of athletes for national teams ahead of the All Africa Games, the Olympic Games, and other international competitions. Baseball and softball are, in Nigeria, emerging disciplines, and by attaching my name and patronage to them, the intention was to diversify opportunity, to create pathways into organised, internationally recognised competition for young people who might never have participated in football or athletics. Softball, in particular, offers a lower barrier of entry for girls and a strong school-community interface, making it a natural vehicle for gender inclusion. Subsequent years have seen continued expansion and talent development, with the Adewale Baseball Park in Ilorin, reportedly among the finest baseball facilities on the continent, serving as a permanent home for the sport in Kwara State and cementing Ilorin’s position as a centre of Nigerian baseball and softball development.
In 2019 and the years following, WBFA has participated in the World Health Organisation’s Walk the Talk physical activity initiative, linking sport directly to its primary advocacy domain of health systems strengthening and reflecting a mature understanding that in a public health context, the most significant dimension of sport is frequently the daily commitment to movement, to the body, and to prevention rather than elite competition. As Nigeria confronts a growing burden of non-communicable disease and as the mental health consequences of sedentary urban life become more visible, the integration of physical activity advocacy into WBFA’s health work carries increasing policy significance.
At the United Nations General Assembly in September 2023, I had the honour of joining H.E. Amina J. Mohammed, UN Deputy Secretary-General, Roger Federer, Founder and Board President of the Roger Federer Foundation, Laura Frigenti, Chief Executive of the Global Partnership for Education, Catherine Russell, Executive Director of UNICEF, and representatives of the Heads of State of Kenya and Switzerland, on the high-level panel Investing in Education Systems for Sustainable Development and Children’s Wellbeing, co-hosted by the Global Partnership for Education, the Roger Federer Foundation, the Government of Kenya, and UNICEF. That convening brought together UN Member States, multilateral bodies, civil society organisations, private foundations, and youth movements in a shared examination of the political will and systemic investment required to advance SDG 4, and it gave powerful global expression to something I have believed throughout two decades of work in Nigeria, which is that investing in children’s education is the single most consequential equaliser available to any society, and that sport, when embedded within school systems with intention and resource, is among the most effective tools for keeping children, particularly girls, within that system. The evidence is robust that school-based sports programmes improve attendance, engagement, and retention, above all in contexts where social and cultural pressures make formal education feel remote or inaccessible, and that reality sat at the heart of every initiative WBFA had pursued from its earliest days in Kwara State.
At UNGA 2024, on the margins of the Summit of the Future, I continued that advocacy in dialogue aligned with Education for All priorities, contributing to international conversations on the intersection of youth development, educational access, and sport as a cross-cutting enabler of both, reinforcing to a global audience what two decades of frontline experience in Nigeria had already made plain, which is that the bridge between sport and education is not a peripheral concern but a central one, and that no credible sport-for-development framework can afford to treat the two as separate domains.
Across twenty years, one pattern recurs without exception, which is that sport, when embedded within a broader development architecture, functions as a multiplier. It is most powerful when connected simultaneously to health, education, gender equality, and community cohesion rather than when treated as a standalone sector. Every initiative described in this account was designed with multiple development objectives in view. A second pattern is equally consistent, which is that inclusion requires deliberate design from the beginning. Girls, children with disabilities, and young people in underserved communities do not find their way into sport through benign neglect. They require specific attention, structural accommodation, and visible champions. The role that patronage, institutional backing, and First Lady-linked visibility played in normalising women’s sport in Kwara in the early 2000s was real and measurable because visibility shapes norms, norms shape behaviour, and behaviour sustained over time shapes culture. A third pattern carries perhaps the most significant policy implication, which is that development impact demands continuity beyond political cycles. The transition from MDG-era programmes to independent, civil-society-led SDG-era initiatives was a deliberate institutional design choice built into WBFA from its founding, ensuring that the work continues regardless of the political weather. The deliberate diversification of sport pathways, from football to netball, from netball to baseball and softball, from able-bodied athletics to Para sport and Special Olympics, reflects a considered understanding that concentration is fragile and that expanding pathways expands the number of young Nigerians who can find their place in organised sport, regardless of gender, ability, or geography.
This year, the United Nations chose a theme for the International Day of Sport for Development and Peace that captures precisely what twenty years of this work has taught me. Bridges are built slowly. They require foundations, engineering, sustained investment, and above all, the belief that the distance between where people are and where they could be is worth crossing. For twenty years, sport has been one of WBFA’s bridges, connecting girls to competition, children with special needs to community, underserved youth in Ilorin to national talent pipelines, and Nigeria to the global movement of sport for development and peace. The barriers we have broken are concrete realities rather than abstractions. They are the socio-cultural barriers that once told girls in Kwara that football was a space reserved for others, the institutional barriers that left children with disabilities without any structured physical outlet, and the geographic barriers that meant a gifted young baseball player in a secondary school in the North-Central had no competitive pathway and no one to tell them that one could exist.
We are far from finished. The bridges are still being built. As International Day of Sport for Development and Peace is commemorated, I am proud to account for what has been constructed, because we built, we documented, we sustained, and we did so in the belief that when you give any child a ball, a field, a coach, a competition, and a crowd that cheers their name, you give them something greater than sport. You give them the dignity of participation, and that changes everything.
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