In July 2025, the Nigerian government gave each Super Falcons player a $100,000 cash reward and a three-bedroom house. Weeks later, the same honour was extended to Nigeria's women's basketball team, D'Tigress. Once again, each player received $100,000 and a flat. These were proud moments. But they also left many Nigerians wondering: how is it that we can celebrate wins with billions of naira in unplanned rewards, yet we still have no national structure to support young people building real solutions?

Around the same time, President Tinubu addressed Nigerians in Japan, encouraging those abroad to return home and contribute to nation-building. It was a heartfelt appeal, one that resonates with many in the diaspora who want to come back. But the reality on the ground tells a different story. If young entrepreneurs can't access funding, support or policy protection, what exactly are they coming home to?

This is the contradiction. We reward excellence in sports on impulse, yet ignore excellence in innovation and enterprise.

Nigeria is Not Poor. It's Poorly Structured.

Every day, thousands of young Nigerians are building products that could change lives — fintech apps, agritech platforms, digital health tools, clean energy systems. But without connections or access to proper capital, many of these ideas stall, die, or leave the country entirely.

Meanwhile, over ₦10 billion was spent in one month on celebratory rewards. The problem isn't a lack of money. It's a lack of structure, intention and vision.

There's a Global Model That Works

In 2010, Chile launched Start-Up Chile, a government-backed, equity-free accelerator that offered $25,000 to early-stage founders. No equity was taken. No insider network required. Just a good idea, commitment, and a clear process.

Over the years:

• More than 3,000 startups from 85 countries were funded
• Alumni raised over $1.2 billion in follow-on funding
• Chile became known globally as an innovation hub
• Over 50 countries have adopted similar models

This isn't theory. It works. Nigeria can do it too — and do it better.

What Start-Up Naija Could Look Like

Let's design a founder-first accelerator that fits Nigeria's realities:

• ₦20 million to ₦40 million per selected startup (about $15,000 to $25,000), disbursed in stages based on progress
• Larger follow-on grants of ₦75 million to ₦150 million ($50,000 to $100,000) for high-performing teams
• A transparent, merit-based selection process
• Public dashboards showing who got what and how they're performing
• A funding pool built from federal and state governments, donor partners like the Mastercard Foundation, and diaspora-led VCs

States like Lagos, Ekiti, Kaduna or Enugu could launch a pilot programme right now — it doesn't have to start in Abuja.

Why This Matters Now

A Real Opportunity

We've already shown we can find the money. The rewards to athletes were not planned or budgeted — they were approved because there was the will. What we need now is that same energy for innovation. The same urgency for our future.

If we're serious about bringing back Nigerians from abroad, we must build something for them to return to. You can't ask people to leave stable lives in Canada or the UK and come home to nothing but struggle.

Let's build the structures. Let's back our builders the same way we back our champions.