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American Football Elite Development (AFEDEV) has announced plans to expand American football across Nigeria, unveiling a youth academy, a competitive tackle league, and a new athlete-tracking technology platform at a press conference this week. The organization also confirmed that a football exhibition featuring four teams will be held on September 10 at the Nigeria Institute for Sports basketball court.
AFEDEV founder and Vice President of American Football Lawrence Ojide said the initiative is centered on inclusion and aims to expand opportunities in American football, which he described as one of the world’s largest team sports. He said Nigeria’s population size and athletic talent make it well-positioned to embrace the game.
According to Ojide, AFEDEV’s programs will cover three disciplines: traditional American football, flag football, and wheelchair American football, with the wheelchair program serving as a flagship initiative to ensure broad participation. AFEDEV stands for American Football Elite Development, and its goal is to build pathways for Nigerian athletes and other nationals in the country to take part in the sport.
Princess Nina Aguna, Director and Board Member, presented an overview of the AFEDEV Academy, describing it as the organization’s long-term engine for talent development.
She said the Academy is designed to identify young athletes early and provide coaching, tactical education, and physical conditioning alongside educational support, with an emphasis on discipline, leadership, and athletic fundamentals.
Josiah Onu Orie, Board Member and Chief Technology Officer, outlined the structure of the AFEDEV Tackle League, which he said will operate under standardized officiating, professional team management, and structured seasonal play, in line with international safety and administrative standards.
Orie also introduced the Elite Athletes Identification and Development System (EAIDS), a multi-million naira software platform built to manage athlete identification, performance tracking, and the drafting process. The system ranks players using standardized scoring metrics, recommends specialized training based on development data, and maintains a video library for each athlete to support scouting.
AFEDEV confirmed that the initiative will move from announcement to action on September 10, when four teams will compete in an exhibition at the Nigeria Institute for Sports basketball court, giving the public its first look at the talent the organization has been developing.
