Nigeria’s preparations for the World Wrestling Championship in Astana, Kazakhstan, have entered a crucial phase following the conclusion of the Nigeria Wrestling Federation’s (NWF) intensive open camp programme in Oklahoma, United States.

The camp, sanctioned by NWF President Bashir Adewale Adeniyi, MFR, was organised to provide foreign-based Nigerian wrestlers and athletes with valid visas the opportunity to train and compete in a high-level environment ahead of the global championship.

Rather than limiting preparations for routine training sessions, the Oklahoma programme exposed the Nigerian wrestlers to quality opposition through a series of dual meets against athletes from NCAA Division I universities in the United States.

The competitive exposure gave the athletes an opportunity to test their technical and physical readiness against wrestlers competing within one of the world’s strongest collegiate wrestling systems.

Nigeria’s Women’s Wrestling Head Coach, Akuh Purity, described the exercise as an important assessment of the team’s current level, while revealing that the lessons from the camp are already being applied in the team’s ongoing closed-camp programme.

“It was a very valuable experience and gave us an excellent opportunity to assess where we currently stand.”

According to Purity, the dual meets did more than provide competition — they exposed specific areas of the athletes’ performances that needed immediate correction before the World Championships.

“Following the open camp, we transitioned into a closed camp, where we are currently training. We are using this period to specifically address and correct some of the mistakes and weaknesses I identified during the open camp and duals.”

The coach said the wrestlers have responded positively to the demanding programme, with the squad continuing to work intensely as the countdown to Astana gathers momentum.

“The girls are working extremely hard, and we remain committed to making the necessary improvements as we continue our preparation.”

The Oklahoma camp is part of the NWF’s broader strategy to ensure that Nigeria’s wrestlers are adequately prepared for the demands of the World Championships.

The federation’s decision to utilise the United States as one of the team’s preparation bases also reflects the importance being attached to quality opposition, international exposure and competitive readiness.

Purity expressed appreciation to Adeniyi and the NWF leadership for supporting the programme and ensuring that preparations are being strengthened ahead of the global event.

“We appreciate the Nigeria Wrestling Federation, led by Bashir Adewale Adeniyi MFR, for the tremendous support and contribution towards ensuring that the necessary preparations are put in place for the World Championships.”

With the open camp now completed, attention has shifted to the closed phase, where the coaching crew is concentrating on correcting weaknesses and sharpening the athletes’ technical, tactical and physical qualities.

The objective is clear: Nigeria wants to arrive in Astana not merely to participate, but to challenge for honours.

The country’s wrestlers will also carry the added motivation of ending Nigeria’s wait for a World Championship medal. Nigeria’s most recent podium finish at the senior World Championships came in 2023, and the team will be determined to return to the medal table in Kazakhstan.

For Purity and her athletes, the Oklahoma experience has provided valuable information. The challenge now is to convert those lessons into improvements before the opening whistle in Astana.

The open camp has closed, but Nigeria’s real wrestling test is only getting closer — and this time, the target is the World Championship podium.

Dangote Refinery has completed the endorsement of the offer documents for its initial public offering, putting it on course to launch the $1.6 billion public equity sale, regarded as Africa’s largest ever, next week.

Aliko Dangote, Africa’s richest man and owner of the 700,000 barrel-per-day (bpd) plant, led the sign-off ceremony in Lagos on Monday in the presence of advisers and other parties to the pan-African offering, which aspires to source about N2.2 trillion from investors.

The minimum subscription of the offer is 10 ordinary shares, translating to N5,250, Mr Dangote told the event.

Lagos-based Vetiva Advisory Services Limited is coordinating the capital raise.

The ceremony follows a key approval by the capital market regulator, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), last week, with 4.1 billion shares up for subscription at N525 ($0.40) per unit.

The maiden share offer values the refinery at nearly $50 billion, and plans to plough the proceeds into doubling the current capacity of the facility, which lies on a 6,180-acre expanse on the outskirts of Lagos, to 1.4 million bpd.

That could lift the market capitalisation of the Nigerian Exchange by more than one third when the shares are listed on the local bourse later this year.

A cross-border listing on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange, the continent’s biggest bourse, is in the works, just as the company is giving thought to quoting the stock in Egypt, Kenya, Ghana and Rwanda.

In July, a private placement heralding the IPO raised $2.5 billion from institutional investors and HNIs, oversubscribed by 270 per cent.

Unmet demand from the private share sale could find its way into the IPO, which, long before its approval was announced, had drawn vast interest across Nigeria, where the SEC was impelled in June to stop all the marketing related to the share sale.

The regulator’s action followed reports that many retail investors, including those with little or no knowledge of how equity investment works, were already opening trading accounts ahead of the IPO.

Nevertheless, investor appetite is growing fast beyond retail level, with Abu Dhabi National Oil Co (ADNOC) which according to Bloomberg on Monday, was said to have opened conversations with the refinery towards buying a stake in it.

The global media outlet, citing interviews with sources, noted that an insider at ADNOC said Dangote Refinery has also received approaches from other big investors.

READ ALSO: AFC leads investment in Dangote Refinery’s $2.5bn private placement

Potential model for aspiring companies

The IPO’s launch on 14 September will ride on the improved liquidity Nigeria expects to attract from foreign portfolio capital, following the country’s restoration to frontier market status by FTSE Russell after a near-three-year downgrade that bogged it down under unclassified market status, consequently deterring international investors.

Likewise, an IPO on this scale could offer a template to similarly big Nigerian companies raring to become public quoted firms and, by so doing, unlock access to financing through the capital market.

State-owned energy company NNPC Limited has been fiddling with the idea of going public and holding an IPO since 2021 after transitioning into gaining limited liability status, reviving the talks around the push last November.

The company, whose public image has long been marred by opacity in its operations and lack of transparency in publishing its accounts, may borrow a leaf from Dangote Refinery’s listing.

In June, the refinery, which commenced production in January 2024, toppled the US to become the biggest external supplier of jet fuel to Europe, maintaining the feat in July.