Sport for development and peace: Why the Nigerian Government needs to be more involved

In the last decade, Nigeria has witnessed various serious and ongoing conflicts resulting in multiple displacements of populations.  Data from the Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre (IDMC) shows that there were nearly 3.7 million internally displaced persons (IDP) in Nigeria in 2024, 3.4 million of them as a result of these conflicts [1]. While these numbers are shocking, the situation in which the IDP live is even more sobering. Squalid shelter, hunger and lack of access to basic amenities and social services combine to make their ongoing trauma even more depressing.

As conflict has become an intractable problem across the world, actors in the field such as governments, non-governmental organisations (NGOs), international development organisations and civil society organisations have developed interventions using sport to achieve development and peace goals in various conflict settings and to support the recovery and stability of persons displaced by these conflicts. Evidence from research has also shown that these interventions have significant positive impacts [2].

Participation in sport for development and peace (SDP) programmes come with immense benefits for persons living in displacement. Victims of conflict live through ongoing trauma and sport can provide a peaceful space where they can derive some much-needed relief from emotional stress. Sport also offers displaced persons opportunity for healthy physical activity, which is often lacking in temporary resettlement. Above all, sport participation may provide displaced persons the opportunity to access basic needs and social services [3]. 

Findings from my study that explored the participation of girls at the Durumi IDP camp, Abuja in PLAY it DREAM It, a SDP intervention implemented by an NGO, FAME Foundation, were consistent with the above benefits. The contributions of the project to the lives of the girls ranged from the symbolic to the instrumental. The former provided a representation of a possible future self beyond gender limitations and life in displacement, while the latter provided immediate functional needs, including basic material provisions, leisure, exercise, and very importantly, mental and emotional well-being. As one of the girls narrated:

“When I’m playing football, I’ll be running, I’ll be laughing and that will make me not to think about anything in life”.

In addition, the girls received numerous gifts and basic needs through their participation in the programme, including food, clothing and sanitary pads. They also actively expressed agency for long-term stability by looking up to the programme in the hope of opportunities to continue their education or receive training in a vocation.

While these benefits show the potential role that sport can play in the lives of millions of IDP in Nigeria, the government has, however, not done enough to harness the opportunities it offers in its efforts to manage the impacts of internal displacement. Members of the IDP community complain about the government’s neglect and lack of interest in their physical well-being. One of the leaders of the IDP camp lamented:

“As I told you earlier, sport has been inhibited in our lives in the sense that some of us have been here for three months, some 10 years, some 13 years. It is unfortunate to know that neither the Federal Government of Nigeria nor the Agencies have ever cared to look at sports in our lives. The little we do here is that football field you see there, our boys go there and play football.”

The football field, itself, is an undeveloped plot of land with bare soil, adjacent to the IDP camp. It can hardly be called a sport facility despite its use for such purposes. Besides, its use is not inclusive since only the men are able to access it, as another leader of the community revealed:

“Only the boys that have their football field here and you know the way our people are, they cannot just allow the girls to come and start playing football on the field here.”

A conversation with a Special Adviser at the Office of the Federal Commissioner, National Commission for Refugees, Migrants, and Internally Displaced Persons (NCFRMI), the government agency mandated to provide care, protection, and support for these groups, revealed that sport has been a marginal aspect of their interventions. He explained that the Commissioner has a Director of Sport, and that they organised an event in Abuja for the men, where selected teams from various groups, including agency staff, refugees, migrants and IDP, competed in a football tournament. Regretting the lack of inclusivity, he said:

“Nobody bothered to ask why the women were not involved.”

The evidence from the study demonstrates why the government needs to get involved in SDP interventions through its agencies responsible for IDP and forced migrants. Firstly, as the findings show, the mental and physical health benefits of IDP participation are enormous. Importantly, this can be achieved at modest cost, since such interventions may not require large budget outlays. Achieving such significant impacts for IDP without large spending will be a very efficient way of spending scare public resources.

Secondly, the study shows that IPD are primarily motivated to participate in such SDP interventions in the hope that it may offer them opportunities for long-term social mobility, through access to education for children, vocational training and employment. Integration, especially in the areas of employment and livelihood, is a core objective at the heart of government’s intervention with IDP. Through sport, the government can mobilise the various stakeholders, including the youth, parents, NGOs, international development agencies and civil society organisations to pursue such objectives.

Thirdly, gender-inclusive development is important and primarily the responsibility of the government. The study shows how much women and girls in the IDP camp lack access to opportunities for healthy leisure and physical activity. The findings, at the same time, show that they can participate and derive enormous benefits from sport, despite restrictive cultural and gender norms. Government wields both policy and resource allocation powers and the instruments to achieve more gender inclusive opportunities for sport and physical activity at the IDP camps.

In conclusion, given the various sites of ongoing conflict and the multiple displacements that they continue to produce, IDP camps may remain across Nigeria for some time. There remains a need to manage the enormous mental health and other negative impacts on displaced persons. Sport offers a useful tool in this regard. For the reasons outlined, the government of Nigeria and its agencies need to be more proactive and involved in sport for development and peace.

Funding disclosure: The research received the support of the postdoctoral fellowship of Gerda Henkel Foundation, under the Special Programme Forced Migration (Grant number: 06/FM/22).

References

[1] IDMC (2025, May) 2025 Global Report on Internal Displacement. Geneva: The Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre. https://doi.org/10.55363/IDMC.XTGW2833

[2] Spaaij, R., Broerse, J. & Oxford, S. et al. (2019). Sport, Refugees, and Forced Migration: A Critical Review of the Literature. Frontiers in Sports and Active Living, 1, 00047. https://doi.org/10.3389/fspor.2019.00047

[3] Michelini, E. (2020). Refugees, physical activity and sport: a systematic literature review. Mondi migrant, 3, 131-152. http://digital.casalini.it/10.3280/MM2020-003008

Image credit

FAME Foundation / Play It Dream It