Nigerian Polo: 109 Years of Glitz, Glamour

For those who are just waking up to the thrills and the excitements of  polo,

the game of kings and the king of games, it may be hard to believe that this unique sport reputed as the oldest team sport in the world, has been in Nigeria

for over a century now. This would automatically make the game the first

organized sport in the country, dwarfing other popular sports like Boxing,

Athletics and Football by decades.

Over the last 100 years, the sport of polo has grown by leaps and bounds thanks

to legendary players, patrons and eye-catching tournaments. However, it is the

strength of an increasing number of polo clubs that has provided the influential

base to enable the sport with its unique attributes and enduing lifestyle to

expand so much.

Whatever else is said about it since its introduction over 107 years ago,

Nigerian polo has undergone many changes. Its history is replete with the

activities, antics and abilities of some of the most influential personalities

in the country and its survival has been due to a number of devoted horse men

and lovers of animals who at different times have given much to keep the game

alive.

Available facts indicate that the first set of polo ponies hit the Lagos turf,

just as the first set of mallets hit the first set of balls, to ignite the birth

of Nigerian polo as early as in 1904. Since then, the equestrian game has

witnessed tremendous growth, with polo being played in virtually every state of

the country.

Barely a decade after its introduction, teams from Lagos and the then German

Cameroun, were already competing for major prizes like Kaiser Wilhelm Cup

presented by Kaiser Wilhelm (11) of Germany, in Lagos where the first polo club

was established by the colonial British masters.

Four years after the amalgamation of the southern and the northern

protectorates, the game spread to the northern part of Nigeria, where it was

received with great enthusiasm by the people. Since then, as they say, polo in

Nigeria never looked back.

The love for this distinctive game that unite man and horse in sporting activity

in the north led to the discovery of talented young Nigerians at the time. With

the keen interest and promotion of the late Emir of Katsina, Alhaji Muhammadu

Dikko, polo quickly spread across the north, with polo clubs springing up in

Katsina, Zaria, Kaduna and Kano.

In 1919, the then British Bank for West Africa (Now First Bank Plc.), presented

the Georgian Cup to be competed for by teams in the north. Produced from the

Georgian silver in 1785, the Georgian Cup became the premier polo cup on the

annual calendar of the NPA, and the second major polo cup in Nigeria, after the

Kaiser Cup in Lagos. 

By 1922, Katsina had become a major polo centre in the north, with Alhaji Usman

Nagogo who succeeded his father Alhaji Dikko as the Emir, with his brothers

emerging the first set of handicapped Nigerian polo players.

The games' ruling body, the Nigerian Polo Association (NPA), now federation, was

founded in the early 1920s and has been functioning till date. The first head of

the NPA, was “The Father of Nigerian polo” Sir Usman Nagogo whose extensive

travels gave the Nigerian body an international recognition.

While the game was growing in leaps and bounds in the north, polo was equally

flourishing in the south with Lagos hosting international tournament that

attracted players from within and outside the country.

Polo was introduced in Ibadan, the heartland of western Nigerian in the 1930s,

while the game is also popular in Port Harcourt, with its polo turf being touted

as the best in Nigeria.

Affiliated to the Hurlingham Polo Association in the United Kingdom, the

Nigerian polo ruling body has fourteen affiliate clubs, including the Nigerian

Army and Police polo associations

Today, the high profile game of polo in played across the country, with Lagos,

Kaduna, Kano, Katsina and Port Harcourt being the major ones.

The game is truly popular in cities like Ibadan, Abraka, Jos, Bauchi, Yola,

Maiduguri, Zaria, Sokoto and Benin, with the establishment of the Okada Polo and

Country Club, Uyo Polo Club and lately, Guards and 1212 polo clubs, both in

Abuja.

In his address to mark the centenary of Nigerian polo 2004, the then NPA

Chairman, Alhaji Umaru Shinkafi said though polo found its initial abode in the

palaces of the northern emirates and in the Army barracks, the game has over the

years left imprints in the hearts of Nigerians.

He paid glowing tributes to the late Life President of NPA, Major General Hassan

Usman Katsina for flying the flag in the same noble way as his fore fathers. He

singled out Usman Dantata whose flamboyant lifestyle and wealth gave Nigerian

polo an enduring international boost particularly in the United Kingdom and USA.

Shinkafi who delivered the address during the Lagos'2004 International Polo

Tournament organized to make the milestone, singled out Col Abubakar Umar for

reviving the game in Bauchi, Lt. Gen. Theophilous Danjuma for pioneering the

founding of Polo Port Harcourt Polo Club and late Col. Isa Bakar who made a

worthy attempt at starting the Njikoka Polo Club in Awka.

"Equally significant is the contribution to the development of polo in the

southern part of the country through such families as the Katsina royal family,

The Dantatas,  Da Rochas, Alakijas, Ojoras, Akinkugbes Saffiediens, Amusans,

Ogunbanjos, and more recently Prince Albert Esiri, Babangida and Adamu Atta, he

added.

Shinkafi did not forget the pioneering effort of great men like Ahmed Joda whose

dedication and enthusiasm for the sport ensured the establishment of private

polo farm in Yola that sparked a craze across the country. Today, private polo

farms are the vogue, competing with the public clubs in numbers and patronage.

"As the NPA Chairman, the duty has fallen on my shoulder to express, on behalf

of all living players and supporters, our gratitude to all my predecessors, he

enthused, adding, " On behalf of the Life President, players and enthusiasts of

polo, I wish to end on a note of prayer for a safe and promising new century for

Nigerian polo."