Nigeria's Mbah and Bawa Secure Olympic Beach Volleyball Spot

Esther Mbah and Pamela Bawa made history by securing Nigeria's first-ever ticket to the Los Angeles 2028 Olympic Games in beach volleyball. They achieved this milestone on Saturday, August 22, 2023, by defeating Morocco 2-0 in the women's final of the 2026 African Beach Volleyball Nations Championship held in Alexandria, Egypt.

The Director-General of the National Sports Commission (NSC), Bukola Olopade, praised the duo as a potential podium team and commended the collaboration between the NSC and the Nigeria Volleyball Federation (NVBF) that led to this achievement. NVBF President Musa Nimrod expressed gratitude for the qualification, which he described as a reward for years of near misses, noting that Nigeria had previously reached the finals three times without success.

He thanked the NSC and the Comptroller-General of the Nigeria Customs Service, Adewale Adeniyi, for their support during the NVBF's 16-year wait for this breakthrough.