Nigeria borders Benin, Cameroon, Niger and Chad, and lies on the Gulf of Guinea. Nigeria made its debut in the Games in 1950. Success for Nigeria has traditionally come in six sporting disciplines with athletics and boxing being good sources of medals.

Nigeria at the Glasgow 2026 Commonwealth Games

Nigeria finished seventh at Glasgow 2026, the first Commonwealth Games staged with a reduced program of 10 sports. The country won 10 gold medals, along with 7 silver and 7 bronze (24 medals in total), comfortably the highest-ranked African nation at the Games ahead of South Africa and Kenya.

Athletics was Nigeria's biggest source of medals, and the seventh-place finish placed the nation just behind the six leading Commonwealth teams. The country also finished first in the Para Powerlifting event and won 6 medals in total (3 gold and 3 silver).

The final medal standings, with Nigeria's rank are shown below:

Rank Nation Gold Silver Bronze Total
1 Australia 70 45 56 171
2 England 29 45 36 110
3 Canada 19 20 23 62
4 India 13 17 9 39
5 Scotland 13 9 17 39
6 New Zealand 10 14 12 36
7 Nigeria 10 7 7 24

Trivia

  • The Federal Republic of Nigeria joined the Commonwealth in 1960 ( though were suspended during the 1995-99 period).
  • Nigeria made its debut in the Games in 1950 winning a silver in the Mens High Jump competition. Medal success has been achieved in every Games that they have taken part in with Victoria in 1994 being the most successful to date with 37 podium places bringing 11 gold, 13 silver and 13 bronze.
  • Nigeria was the first country to boycott the Commonwealth Games in 1978 in protest over New Zealand's sporting contacts with South Africa. 
  • In 2014, the women's 53 kg weightlifting competition was originally won by 16 year-old Chika Amalaha of Nigeria, but she was stripped of her medal after failing a doping test.