Nigeria’s senior men’s volleyball team will begin their campaign at the 2026 African Men’s Volleyball Nations Championship in Tunisia on Wednesday, with qualification pathways to the 2028 Olympic Games and 2027 FIVB World Championship adding significance to the continental tournament.
Nigeria will face Chad in their opening Group C fixture on September 16 before taking on Algeria in the group.
The championship, which began on Monday, has brought together 13 men’s teams following Zimbabwe’s withdrawal and is being staged as part of the qualification pathway towards the Los Angeles 2028 Olympics and the 2027 FIVB World Championship.
Nigeria secured its place through the CAVB qualification process.
Head coach Ryan Masajedi has selected a 14-man squad for the competition, comprising two setters, two opposites, two liberos, four outside hitters and four middle blockers.
Two new players are included in the final squad announced by Masajedi, who heads a technical crew featuring Taiwo Oladipupo as first assistant coach and Jonah Adamu as second assistant.
Bruno Ibeh and Adeniyi Favour will provide the options at setter, while Armstrong Udoka and Okonkwo Ebuka are the two opposites.
Captain Abdulquadri Jaiyeola leads the outside hitters alongside Ogunshina Obayemi, Emmanuel Udah and Faruk Lucky.
Abednego Hassan and Tiamiyu Ismail are the two liberos, while Anele Timothy, Pascal Ozokoye, Kaseem Mutiu and Army Ferdinand make up the middle blockers.
Masajedi said the immediate objective was to progress from the group stage, while warning his players against underestimating their opponents.
“The first task before us is to scale through the group stage and then wait for our opponent in the next round. We will not underrate any team in our group because they are equally at the championship to make a statement,” he said.
Nigeria finished seventh at the 2021 African Men’s Volleyball Nations Championship in Rwanda after defeating DR Congo 3-0 (25-10, 25-20, 25-22) in the classification match.
The country did not participate in the 2023 edition.
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