By all standards, the office of the Sports Secretary within the University of Ibadan Medical Students Association (UIMSA) bears an unusual duality. It is at once a logistical post and a cultural one, tasked not only with coordinating competitions but also with sustaining the spirit of sportsmanship in a high-pressure academic environment. In April 2024, Miss Chidinma Onyiuke assumed this office, unopposed but not unquestioned, armed with the RICO agenda, a compelling sports resume, and the burden of continuing and improving on a tradition shaped by her predecessors.
What began as a standard 10-month tenure soon evolved into a longer journey. The over four-month-long MDCAN (Medical and Dental Consultants’ Association of Nigeria) strike disrupted UIMSA’s academic calendar and, by extension, its political one. As a result, Chidinma’s tenure stretched to an unprecedented 14 months, an extended period that not only granted her more time to implement her agenda but also intensified expectations. With that additional time came both opportunity and scrutiny.
As her tenure has concluded, this review revisits her manifesto, actions, and impact- not to applaud or indict, but to fairly assess a tenure that had time, resources, and moments of brilliance, yet also pockets of unfinished business.
The RICO Agenda: A Four-Pronged Vision
Miss Chidinma’s manifesto was structured around the acronym RICO, a four-pronged framework that promised:
- R – Representation in national games and Recruitment of new sports enthusiasts
- I – Inclusivity for both genders
- C – Community and Collaboration (with other medical schools, UI Sports Council, and beyond)
- O – Others: monthly Keep Fit, Ulympics, memory sports, and a Sports Awards Night
This framework was as ambitious as it was well-articulated. But ambition is often tested by logistics, participation, and consistency; areas where this review seeks to draw a measured balance.
On Representation and Recruitment
In the area of representation, Chidinma’s tenure delivered tangible outcomes. The UIMSA delegation to the 2024 NiMSA Games, selected through a structured Pre-NiMSA Heats, returned with an impressive fourth-place overall finish, racking up 6 gold, 5 silver, and 8 bronze medals. That performance was not only significant in terms of numbers but symbolised a level of preparation, coordination, and competitiveness not often seen at the national level.
However, her most historic feat came not once, but twice, thanks to the tenure extension. UIMSA, under her leadership, participated in two consecutive editions of the prestigious UI Seals Cup (2024 and 2025). Remarkably, the male football team clinched the gold medal in both tournaments, marking UIMSA’s first-ever championship titles (back-to-back) in that competition. The female team was the first runner-up in the maiden edition of the Female Seals Cup. That feat alone earns her a solid place in UIMSA’s sports history.
Yet, on the second leg of her promise, recruiting more sports enthusiasts, less can be said. There was a call for UIMSAites interested in swimming some months back. The training session, which was supposed to be delivered by Adura of the 2k24 class, who won 4 gold medals at the NIMSA games, didn’t come to fruition. Speaking to the Press, Miss Chidinma said the swimming training didn’t hold because the UI swimming pool had issues, and delayed the training, and after it was fixed, the trainer was already occupied attending to personal matters.
Participation and representation remained clustered around the usual suspects: known athletes and sports-inclined classes. The “enthusiast recruitment” part of RICO, it appears, remained more aspirational than actionable.
On Inclusivity
One area where Chidinma demonstrated a visible commitment was gender inclusivity. A seasoned female footballer herself, she understood firsthand the barriers to female participation in sports. Under her watch:
- The UIMSA female football team debuted at the inaugural Female Seals Cup, clinching a silver medal and winning the UI Super Cup (female edition) for the 2023/2024 session
- Gender-separated board games were introduced, giving female UIMSAites more structured entry points.
- New kits were purchased for both male and female teams.
However, female participation beyond football and chess remained modest. Despite all efforts to grow all-female sporting events or ensure inclusion across lesser-known sports like track and field, table tennis, or volleyball. What was missing was a cultural shift- a long-term plan to make sports feel welcoming and rewarding for all UIMSAites, especially women. The ground was broken, but the structure was not built.
On Community and Collaboration
In terms of fostering community and inter-institutional collaboration, Chidinma’s tenure had some high points:
- The UIMSA vs. LAUMSA inter-MSA football friendly, played between both associations’ 400-level classes, served as a rare bridge-building exercise.
- She spearheaded the procurement of new sports gear, which included: jerseys, footballs, shot puts, and javelins, further strengthening UIMSA’s sports inventory.
However, on internal community building, the lifeblood of sports culture, momentum lagged. Despite several attempts, sports participation within UIMSA remained limited to the few who were already involved. The extension of tenure gave her more time, but not necessarily more reach. While class sports directors helped disseminate information, apathy, especially among clinical students, persisted. Without structural incentives, community-building remained surface-level.
Sports, for many UIMSAites, remained peripheral- something others did.
On “Others”
Chidinma also promised consistency with key annual events, and she delivered
- The UIMSA Ulympics during Health Week featured track and field events, indoor games, and interclass tournaments.
- The Sports Awards Night was held again, celebrating standout athletes and teams.
- She introduced a new activity: the mid-tenure UIMSA Games Night, which blended competition with leisure.
- The monthly UIMSA Keep Fit, however held across the first 3 or 4 months of the tenure
Still, these activities were often marred by low turnout and lukewarm excitement, especially among upper-level students.
There was also low publicity of most of these events. A longer tenure could have offered the chance to try out different publicity strategies or introduce new ways of increasing engagement; however, these were not explored.
Conclusion
To assess Chidinma Onyiuke’s tenure is to acknowledge a season of structural wins and historical moments, particularly the back-to-back Seals Cup golds. Her dedication, experience and attention to logistics elevated UIMSA’s competitive profile at the institutional and national levels. She was hands-on, respected by her teams, and deeply involved in planning and coordination.
But her tenure also exposed enduring limitations: stagnant internal participation, incomplete gender integration, and the absence of legacy structures that could outlive her time in office.
In many ways, her leadership was successful by traditional metrics: medals, events and consistency, but still fell short of the transformational leap her manifesto hinted at. With an unusual 14-month stretch, she had the gift of time. What the next administration must prioritise is not just what gets done, but who gets involved and how enduring those systems become.
If Chidinma’s tenure marked a solid chapter in UIMSA’s sports story, then the next must aim to write the blueprint for a sports culture that is not only competitive but collective.
Oluwagbolade Ajiboro