By Jacob Ajom
Nigeria’s national archery team, The Flames emerged as the clear winners of the 15th TIZOCATA Open Archery Tournament, held in Abuja from 8 to 11 October 2026. Competing against archers from Algeria, Benin, Côte d’Ivoire, Guinea, Pakistan, Togo, Tunisia and Zimbabwe, the Nigerian team won 34 of the 45 medals on offer, including 13 of the 16 gold medals, and finished comfortably at the top of the overall medal table.
We spoke with the Federation’s National Director Technical of the Nigeria Archery Federation (NAFED Damilola B. Sholademi, about what the result means for Nigerian archery, the archers behind it, and the Federation’s plans for 2027. Excerpts:
Nation Gold Silver Bronze Total
Nigeria 13 12 9 34
Côte d’Ivoire 2 0 0 2
Guinea 1 0 1 2
Algeria 0 2 1 3
Benin 0 1 0 1
Tunisia 0 1 0 1
Zimbabwe 0 0 1 1
Pakistan 0 0 1 1
Congratulations on the result. Thirty four medals and thirteen golds. How would you describe the performance of The Flames?
Thank you. It was a commanding performance on home soil, and I am very proud of the team. Our archers reached the podium in every bow style, recurve, compound and barebow. Of the 36 archers who wore the national colours, 29 left the tournament with at least one medal. Côte d’Ivoire finished second on the table with two golds, followed by Guinea, so the margin speaks for itself.
Some will say this was simply home advantage. Is it more than one good weekend?
It is far more than one good weekend. The TIZOCATA result did not come out of nowhere. Only three months earlier, at the African Archery Championships in Oran, Algeria, The Flames won one gold, five silver and one bronze medal and finished sixth among all participating nations. That was a landmark for a team whose earlier continental outings had produced just two silver medals.
Abuja has now built on Oran. What we saw here is the fruit of patient, deliberate work. Our archers have trained harder, our coaches have grown in confidence, and our structures are getting stronger every year. In a single season, Nigeria has gone from a promising contender to a team that sets the pace in the region. Oran showed that Nigeria belongs on the African stage. TIZOCATA shows that we intend to lead it.
Which archers stood out for you?
Several of them deserve special mention. Tobi Bello led the way in recurve, the Olympic discipline. He topped the qualification round with 520 points at 70 metres and went on to win the Recurve Men gold ahead of strong opponents from Benin and Zimbabwe.
Na’allah Abdulhakeem produced the story of the tournament. He only took up archery this year and had shot the competition distance in practice for less than a month before arriving in Abuja. He won gold in Compound Men and then a second gold in the Compound Mixed Team.
His partner in that mixed team, Enyenihi Kachollom, won two gold medals in Abuja, the Compound Women individual title and the Compound Mixed Team title. Kachollom is a founding member of Nigeria’s compound bow team and one of the four archers who began the country’s renaissance in archery, bringing fame to Nigeria at the 2022 African Archery Championships in South Africa, where the country won its first ever continental archery medals. Today she serves as NAFED’s Women’s Development Leader, and in Abuja she led by example. She is an inspiration to the women and girls coming into the sport.
Our team captain, Aliyu Abubakar, won bronze in Compound Men and silver in the Compound Mixed Team. Beyond his medals, he led the squad with steadiness and care throughout the four days.
And in barebow?
Barebow was very strong for us. Usman Abubakar won the Barebow Men gold and, with Faith Adekogbe, the Barebow Mixed Team gold. Dominion Makanjuola won Barebow Women gold and added a mixed team bronze. In recurve women, Eteidung Mandu led a Nigerian clean sweep of the podium, with Aminat Adeyemi taking silver and Folashade Oyebola bronze.
Did you see signs of the next generation coming through?
Very clearly. Danjuma Vinsent led a full Nigerian podium in Beginner Barebow Men 30m. Vivian Ajibo and Hauwa Waki Pindar took gold and silver in Beginner Barebow Women 18m, and Bikom Justina and Gabriel Mogaji won the Beginner Barebow 30m Mixed Team title. We had 17 Nigerian archers in the beginner divisions. The base of the sport in this country has never been broader.
The tournament also included a judges course. Why was that important?
Because a strong federation needs strength off the shooting line as well. Alongside the tournament, NAFED hosted the National Archery Judges Course, Level 1, which ran in Abuja from 5 to 11 October 2026 and was delivered by Dr. Ahmed Koura, a World Archery International Judge. Twenty two candidates were trained on the course. Fifteen of them passed the examination and are now Level 1 World Archery National Judges, while the rest received certificates of participation. This significantly strengthens the technical capacity of NAFED. We now have a larger pool of qualified officials to raise the standard of officiating at club, state and national events across the country.
What comes next for The Flames?
Our task is to sustain this momentum. A key priority for 2027 is the development of junior archers in the Under 18 recurve class. That is the pathway that feeds our future Olympic and continental teams, and it is where we will concentrate our effort.
We already have young archers who give us real hope. One of them is Alexander Harry-Erin, our Under 18 archer, who I see as one of the future hopefuls of the sport in Nigeria. He competed in Abuja against strong junior opposition from across the region, and that kind of experience is exactly what our juniors need. With structured training, good coaching and regular international competition, archers like Alexander can carry The Flames forward for years to come.
Any final message to Nigerians?
Our success in Abuja belongs to the archers, the coaches, the officials and the families who stand behind them. I must also recognise the President of NAFED, HRH Mohammed Baba Abdullahi, and the members of the Board, whose tireless work behind the scenes has done so much to elevate the sport in this country. Their leadership, support and vision made this tournament and this result possible.
The Flames have shown what is possible. Now we must invest in the next generation, so that Nigeria does not just win at home but stands on podiums across Africa and the world.
Full results of the 15th TIZOCATA Open Archery Tournament are published on ianseo.net.
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