On Sunday, August 3, 2025, Bolakale Magaji’s four-year tenure as the Executive Chairman of the Kwara State Sports Commission (KSSC) came to an end, and sports stakeholders in the State of Harmony who spoke to Olukayode Thomas said that his tenure has not been harmonious; therefore, it must not be renewed by the Governor. They alleged that his management style has killed sports in the state, but Magaji denied the allegations against him.

Introduction

There are two sets of untouchables in Kwara State. The Aburo Gomina and the Ore Gomina.

Bolakale Magaji, the former Executive Chairman of KSSC, is not only an Aburo Gomina but also an Ore Gomina.

Encounters with an Aburo Gomina are something most Kwarans dread; it sends shivers down their spines.

Now imagine working under Magaji at KSSC, who is not just Aburo Gomina but also Ore Gomina, for four years. Kwarans who experienced it in the last four years said it has been a traumatising, soul-wrecking experience that they don’t want a repeat of or wish for their enemies.

They described his four years as head of Kwara sports, which ends Sunday, August 3, 2025, as the years of the locust.

As his tenure ends, athletes, staff, and other stakeholders in Kwara sports are praying that the state Governor, Abdulrahman Alade Abdulrazaq, will, for once, put the interest of the state before nepotism and not renew Magaji’s tenure.

Replacing technocrats with neophytes
 One of the allegations levelled against Magaji was that he removed knowledgeable sports technocrats and replaced them with neophytes in sports.

Staff of KSSC who spoke to this reporter on condition of anonymity because of fear of being victimised claimed Magaji’s brother, Olawoyin Magaji, a lawmaker now late, sponsored a bill that allowed him to perfect his acts and got rid of Steve Olarinoye, the pioneer Director General of KSSC, and the likes of Monisola Makanjuola, Roseline Raphael, Balikis Abdulkadir, and Bakare Adebayo.

Magaji was also said to have removed Olarinoye as the Chairman of Weightlifting in Kwara.

With the removal of Olarinoye and other technocrats, Magaji was alleged to have single-handedly picked neophytes in sports administration and management to replace them.

Magaji’s new board members are Dele Abubakar, Kwara Central; Lanre Elijah, Kwara South; and Yinusa Lade, representing Kwara North. Lade and Elijah are core politicians, while Abubakar played football at the amateur level.

They also alleged that Magaji rubbished Tunde Abdukareem, the backbone of athletics in Kwara, so he quietly exited the sport. The Kwara Basketball team, the Falcons, and the state Handball team all became history under Magaji. Volleyball could also have been dead but for the intervention of one Bashorun Bankole.

Priority for squash and muscling Kwara United, Kwara FA, and KFA
 In a country where football is the number one sport and athletics a distant second, Magaji, a former squash star, was accused of giving squash preferential treatment to the detriment of football.

They claimed that at the last Gateway Games, only seven states competed in squash. And that he was forced to include the state football team in the contingent, and the players justified their inclusion, as they won the silver medal.

Magaji was also accused of interfering in the management of the Kwara Football Academy, undermining the leadership of the school administrator, Ibrahim Bako.

Stakeholders alleged that he attempted to control Kwara FA and Kwara United Football Club, which are under different rules and frameworks as professional outfits.

He was also said to have denied Kwara United countless opportunities to access the government, which made the team resort to borrowing from individuals and financial institutions.

Magaji was said to have boasted at the VVIP stand of Rashidi Yekini Main Bowl during one of Kwara United’s matches that he was the one who insisted the Governor shouldn’t approve any money for the team.

But despite being denied funding, Kwara United won the Federation Cup for the first time in the history of the club and the state. They also won the inaugural N-Youth League Super 8 trophy.

An activist who became an intolerant Chairman and lover of nepotism
 As an employee of the then Kwara Sports Council, Magaji, his staff revealed, was a trade unionist who was dismissed alongside other staffers by Ádámù Iyam, the then Military Governor, for engaging in union activities. Following persuasions by top personalities in the state, the dismissal was converted to retirement.

But since he was appointed the Executive Chairman of KSSC, Magaji has become intolerant of divergent views.

Staff of the public relations department of the Commission have been turned into attack dogs.

Staffers claimed a culture of fear reigned at the Commission.

Staff are suspended or sacked for flimsy excuses.

They revealed that he recently suspended the Head of Coaching for six months without pay, and that his brother, Isiaka Magaji, replaced him.

They claimed that a former corps member who served at the Commission has been employed while the current Africa Para Badminton champion, Eniola Bolaji, is not a staff member; she is on a stipend.

All the athletes that represented Kwara at the Gateway Games are not staff but casual, on stipends ranging from ₦5,000 to ₦15,000.

Allegations of misappropriation and athletes dumping Kwara
 Sports stakeholders in Kwara also allege that Magaji’s era has witnessed misappropriation and maladministration of funds, especially during major events like the National Youth Games and the National Sports Festival.

They claimed administrators before him normally disclosed whatever financial support was received from the state government, but Magaji would never tell them what he got.

This prompted para-athletes to write to the State House of Assembly to investigate Magaji in 2022.

“We hereby regret to draw the attention of the House of Assembly to the fact that sports in Kwara State are dead and about being buried,” the opening chapter of the protest letter stated.

Some of their grievances then included intimidation of elite athletes, favouritism, adoption of a no-win-no-pay policy, diversion of funds, and issuing unnecessary queries to coaches and association secretaries.

While Magaji kept saying that the government has not lifted the embargo on the employment of athletes in the state, they claimed he has employed family members.

After the 2023 National Para Games in Abuja, they claimed that Magaji suspended 14 members of the KSSC contingent.

Their crime was asking for their allowances and those of the athletes. They complained that the ₦42,000 (₦6,000 per day) was not sufficient, but he was said to have taken offence and wielded the big stick on them.

Initially, the para-athletes were given ₦21,000 for 7 days before the number of days was increased to 8. When the para-athletes returned to Ilorin and expressed their displeasure—despite the State Government’s release of the sum of ₦26 million for the event—Magaji increased the allowance to ₦33,000 per athlete.

Equally, in 2024, the special athletes protested the alleged neglect of their welfare by KSSC.

The athletes barricaded the stadium entrances to get the government’s attention regarding their needs. They accused Magaji of depriving them of their rights.

A para athlete, who led the protest, appealed to the state government to do something about their plight.

According to him, “Most athletes have left the state because of the policies of the Magaji administration, which is frustrating everybody. Our welfare is not being taken care of. They say our award or reward is nothing but a privilege.”

Another term for Magaji will bury Kwara Sports- Oyadinrin

Felix Olatunbosun Oyadinrin represented Team Kwara for about three decades, since the Benue 1996 National Sports Festival.

He said, “Magaji is so power drunk that he feels every individual or group must dance to his tune, irrespective of what is at stake. “

A vice-president of Wheelchair Basketball, member of the Nigeria Paralympic Committee, Oyadinrin is also a stakeholder in para-table tennis, para-athletics, canoeing, and other para sports.

He dumped Kwara State this year to start competing for Bayelsa because of Magaji.

“Since Magaji became the head of KSSC, top athletes have left the state due to his unfavourable policies; they are Chigozie Jeremiah, who left to represent Abia State, and Lekan Abdullahi, who joined the FCT.

“Others are Bisola Asaju, Sofiat Obanisola, Zainab Alabi, Sikiru Adeyemi, Afeez, and Seun.

“In a nutshell, there has been a mass exodus of players in volleyball, handball, athletics, dart, and tennis, to mention but a few.”

Oyadinrin, who has won over twenty medals for Kwara, said he and other elite athletes were not employed, and all they get is a monthly stipend between N5,000 and N10,000.

He said Magaji always complains that the government has not lifted the embargo on employment, but members of his family are employed by KSSC

“The following are the names of his families under the payroll of the Sports Commission- Bidemi Aminat Mogaji (Kwara Football Academy), Moshood Mogaji (Store Department), his daughter-in-laws (Kwara Football Academy and Account Department, Sports Commission), and his brother (Sports Commission). “

He said he is waiting for the day he will see Magaji and asks why he gave him a monetary award for one medal when he won three medals for Kwara.

He revealed that he not only introduced canoeing as a sport in Kwara, but he also gave the team equipment and led the team to win seven medals at a competition at Jabi Lake, Abuja, but instead of commendation, all he got from Magaji was condemnation.

He warned the Governor not to reappoint Magaji as head of KSSC, “unless the Governor wants to bury Kwara sports that Magaji has killed, he must not be reappointed’’

Magaji’s reaction
 Initially, he dismissed the allegations, but he later agreed to respond.

Magaji will not deny that he, like Abdulrazaq, is from Yerimisa, Adeta, Magaji Area, in Adewole Ward, Ilorin West, nor the fact that he grew up with the Governor and that they played street football together, and both represented Kwara at the National Sports Festival.

But he dismissed the allegation that he is running a one-man show, and he insisted that the board of KSSC has representatives from the three senatorial zones.

Magaji revealed that sports run in his family and that members of his family working at the KSSC merited their positions.

He urged his accusers to show records and stats to back their claims.

He also denied interference in the affairs of KFA and Kwara United, even though they are under him and KFA.

“Why should I bother with the three bodies when I have about 38 associations under me? I have a good relationship with Kwara United, and I can say confidently that I have never tried to introduce or impose a player on the team.”

Will Abdulrazaq listen to athletes, staff of KSSC, and Kwara stakeholders in sports who are saying O to ge to Aburo Gomina and Ore Gomina, or will he embrace nepotism and give Magaji another term?

Voice of reason should prevail. The majority of athletes, staff of KSSC, and Kwara stakeholders in sports cannot be wrong. It’s time for Abdulrazaq to get rid of Magaji and his shenanigans.