Who says that Nigeria is not a behemoth on the world stage? Nigeria occupies a space of 923, 768 square kilometres. It is the 31st largest country in the world. “The giant of Africa” with a population of about 220 million, over the years has shown tremendous and robust achievements within the committee of nations, especially in the Area of soft power, precisely sports. The recent demolition of legendary Wrestlemania star Brock Lesnar by Nigerian Oba Femi has shown that Nigeria cannot decapitate when it matters most.
On April 19, 2026, in Wrestlemania 42 staged at Allegiant Stadium, Las Vegas, Nevada, a young Nigerian (real name: Isaac Odugbesan) defeated the great Brock Lesnar. Lest we forget, it was Lesnar who ended the career of The Undertaker after a plethora of years of an unbeaten record. It was no mean achievement. With a stadium capacity of 55, 256 on the second night of the fight (106, 073 on the two nights), America came to a standstill. The fight was televised worldwide by Netflix. It was a huge joy seeing thousands of Americans chanting the name of Oba Femi. Even his introduction before he emerged in the ring was enough advertisement for Nigeria. It was announced that Oba Femi was from Nigeria. Nigeria, which is erroneously known for negative statistics, became a new bride of the world. For that period, the banditry and terrorism in Nigeria were forgotten. The negative painted image of Nigerians in Foreign prisons sentenced for drug peddling, money laundering, rape, etc., was forgotten for a moment. The soft power theory by Joseph Nye (1990) was made alive on the night of April 19, 2026. What a glorious joy to Nigerian!!
Who is Oba Femi? With a billed weight of 140kg and a height of 6ft 6inches, Oba Femi was born on April 22, 1998, in Lagos to the family of Maria and Niyi Odugbesan. In high school, he was involved in field and track events. He attended the University of Lagos, where he won 10 shot put medals during the university games in 2016. In 2017, he won a sports scholarship to Middle Tennessee State University in the United States. In this university, he displayed immense sports competitive sagacity, and in 2019, the University of Alabama admitted him, where he studied Studio Arts. His winning streaks continued unabated. He was determined to rule the world. No wonder he was later called the “Ruler” due to his domineering razzmatazz displays.
It should be stated that going to America was not an easy task. In the interview, he recently granted, he made it clear that his mother was the greatest pillar to him and that, after God, his mother was the greatest asset he had. He also paid homage to his local church, which graciously contributed money for his immigration journey to the United States.
Hopefully, it was these faithful helpers who dramatically propelled him not to fail.
The altruistic role of the church must be interrogated here. Instead of being involved in biblical and proverbial injunctions that people should pay tithe and give generously, the church decided to assist a young man of Femi Calibre, whose future at that time was uncertain. We hope that other churches will uphold this worthy legacy.
It was in Alabama that he signed for the Next in Line programme of WWE. For the first time in 2024, he won the NXT North American title. He later defeated Eddy Thorpe and Trick Williams in a triple threat match to win the Next NXT championship title. He later lost to Ricky Saint in September 2025 but regained the title on 6 December 2025. He never lost it again. It needs to be emphasised once more that defeating Lesnar was a humongous feat. Brock was called the beast. He was a four-time NCAA champion, a former UFC heavyweight champion and a several-time world champion. Oba Femi was four years old when Lesnar made his debut in WWE. It was a generational shift. It is interesting to note that this was not the first time Nigeria was exhibiting this time of salutary achievement. On October 23, 1962, Dick Tiger (Richard Ihetu, 1929-1971), became the middleweight champion of the world by defeating Gene Fullmer. Power Mike (Michael Okpara, 1939-2004) emerged as the World wrestling champion in the 70s and 80s. At Okpara’s funeral, Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo praised Power Mike for bringing “honour, dignity and recognition” to Nigeria and Africa. We also had Power Uti, whose honour to Nigeria in the field of wrestling was exemplary and intimidating. Tolulope Omogbehim (Omos) showed significant flashes in WWE, but he later faded out; maybe he did not muster enough dexterity and strength that would have sustained him in a star-studded WWE. There were many other Nigerians who had shown nobility in the combat sports that placed Nigeria on the world map.
We commend Oba Femi for this fantastic feat, and we thank all those who supported him to reach the zenith of his profession. We salute America for providing the veritable ground for a Nigerian to thrive. Indeed, America is a fertile land of opportunities, irrespective of the colour of the skin, race or religion. It should also be clear to America that the majority of Nigerians are hardworking and honest people. Propagating Nigerians as deficient in character and “ Shit hole “is anachronistic and intellectually dwarfish. They should liberalise visa policy to Nigerians, after all, the whole quantum of American people are immigrants. After the “discovery” of America by Christopher Columbus on October 12, 1492, missionary immigrants from Europe bombarded America via immigration. They called it the “New World”.
Finally, as we jubilate on Oba Femi’s victory, we urge him to vie for the world title held by Roman Reigns. Thankfully, having retired Brock Lesnar (his abandonment of wrestling shoes and gloves in the ring indicated this), he had challenged Roman Reigns for a world title fight to be staged at the end of the year. We call on Oba Femi to remain on top of his game, and he should remain worthy in character and eschew any iota of moral debauchery. We have seen great athletes falling from their Olympian heights into shame and disgrace. We pray that this malfeasance should not be part of his story. At all times, Nigeria should not be disgraced. All eyes are on him. He should be aware that he carries Nigeria’s name and torch of dignity. Conversely,
Nigeria should show impactful appreciation by honouring and appreciating him. In Igbo, we say, “Eto dike na nke omere, omee ozo, (when a warrior is praised for his achievement, he will do more). Oba Femi, thank you for bringing joy and honour to us in this time of “Armageddonian” sufferings.
Dr Oramalugo is a political scientist, historian, strategist and retired Assistant Comptroller-General of Customs
