One of the coaches commanding a troop at the ongoing 22nd National Sports Festival in Ogun State is Badmos Adeleke, a sports journalist, who ventured into the sporting line far back in 1998. He made history 27 years ago, when he became the first civilian shooter to win a medal in the National Sports Festival. Adeleke is one of the coaches stirring the ship of Team Lagos at the ongoing 22nd NSF in Ogun State.

At Imo ’98 edition of the National Sports Festival, Adeleke, a staff of the Africa Independent Television (AIT), competed as an athlete in shooting event and his efforts paid off immediately, winning two gold medals to help Team Lagos to the top of the medals table.

Two years later, at Bauchi 2000, Adeleke increased his medal haul to two gold and one silver, and at Edo 2002 edition of the Games, he won one gold, one silver and one bronze.

By the time of Abuja 2004 edition of the National Sports Festival, Adeleke had acquired enough technical knowledge after taking part in various coaching courses, and was part of Team Lagos as a coach/player at the Games.

His record breaking continued in 1995, when he became the first civilian to represent Nigeria in Shooting at the African Championships in Cairo, Egypt. He returned home with a Team Bronze medal.

As a coach, Adeleke led Team Nigeria to the African Youth Games held in Algiers in 2018, where his team got a bronze medal.

Now a certified coach, haven acquired the International Shooting Sports Federation (ISSF) coaching licence, Adeleke believes he has the ability to lead Nigeria Shooters to any event around the globe. But there are some challenges along the way.

Speaking with The Guardian, at the Cultural Centre, venue of Shooting event at the ongoing 22nd NSF in Ogun State, Adeleke said: “In Nigeria, we have serious challenges in the Shooting. For instance, we have only 20 functional airguns in the entire country. Though, some states bought their airgun far back in 2009. They are no longer in good shape for competitions. Some agencies like the DSS have their airguns, but they are not for the civilians,” he said.

As at Friday, coach Badmos Adeleke and his team of six athletes from Lagos were still battling with other state contingent for medals inside the Shooting Range at the Cultural Centre in Abeokuta.

The Guardian recalled that shooting and rugby were earlier dropped from the ongoing 22nd NSF, but the organisers brought back shooting a few days to the commencement of the festival.