Polo is considered among the oldest organized sports ever played and is as old as the country, it was first introduced in Nigeria in Lagos state in 1914. It didn’t take long for it to become an Elite sport and got people to take a liking to the game and assemble their own loosely structured matches. One of the first tournaments played was for the Kaiser Wilhelm Cup (now renamed the Independence Cup) in 1914, which was a sterling silver cup presented by the King of Germany Kaiser Wilhelm II.

The game was soon introduced to the Northern states of Nigeria where it was received with passion. Since then the game has continued to attract the country’s royalty, elites, politicians and other highly influential dignitaries. By 1922, Katsina had become a major polo center in the north, with Alhaji Usman Nagogo, who succeeded his father Alhaji Dikko as the Emir and his brothers emerging as the first set of handicapped Nigerian polo players.

As players and teams propagated, the development of the sport demanded a governing body, and in 1925 the Nigeria Polo Association (NPA) was formed. The ruling body was initiated in the early 20s and was headed by Sir Nagogo, known and addressed as the Father of Nigerian polo. He was the chief leader of the sport whose extensive travels brought international recognition for the country.

The Association currently operates under the Leadership of the Tajuddeen Dantata, a patron and administrator of the sport within and outside the country. As one of the oldest sport’s governing bodies in Nigeria, the purpose of the NPA is to coordinate games, standardize rules and establish handicaps so the teams could be more evenly matched. New clubs have rapidly emerged across the country with Lagos, Kaduna, Kano, Katsina and Port Harcourt being the major clubs. The game is also popular in cities like Ibadan, Abraka, Jos, Bauchi, Yola, Maiduguri, Zaria, Sokoto and Benin, with Twelve Twelve and the Fifth Chukker Polo and Country Club being one of the latest.

Since the existence of the association, it has been offering sponsorship and management for championships at the national level. . The major cups for polo are Majekodunmi in Lagos(competed for by the highest handicap players at club tournaments), Emir of Kano in Kano, Ibadan Cup in Ibadan, Gen Hassan in Port Harcourt , Georgian Cup in Kaduna and African Patrons Cup- fifth Chukker. The competitions are generally in 3 main categories 0 to 2 goals, 3 to 7 goals, 8 to 12 goals and the major cups at 13 above. All of these cups have become the regular feature of the Annual Nigeria Polo Association Lagos International Polo Tournament which has become the flagship of polo competition from Nigeria and across the world.