Nofisat Adefala is a Nigerian para-athlete who has represented her country in wheelchair basketball and sitting volleyball. She was a member of the first wheelchair basketball team to represent Nigeria in the Commonwealth Games.
She registered six of Nigeria’s seven points in a close victory over India in Glasgow, at the 2026 Games. She and her team qualified for the Games through the African qualifying tournament in Angola before that match.
Nofisat Adefala Age
Nofisat Adefala is 27 years old as of 2026, as her date of birth is January 1, 1999.
She is also listed as 27 on both her FIBA 3×3 profile and the Glasgow 2026 team listing.
Nofisat Adefala Real Name
Her full name is Nofisat Yetunde Adefala. She is often listed simply as Nofisat Adefala in reports about wheelchair basketball.
In sitting volleyball records, World ParaVolley lists her as Nofisat Yetunde Adefala and gives “Yetunde” as the name on her shirt. Some Nigerian sports reports also use the name Yetunde Adefala.
Nofisat Adefala State of Origin
Adefala has a connection to Ogun State in southwestern Nigeria. Her FIBA 3×3 profile lists Ijebu Ode, a town in Ogun State, as her hometown.
A hometown does not necessarily confirm a person’s ancestral state of origin. Her profile does not specify her family’s state of origin, so that detail should not be confused with the place listed on her sporting profile.
Reports have also linked an athlete named Yetunde Adefala with Enugu State through the National Para Games. Representing a state at a sports competition does not, on its own, establish that an athlete comes from that state.
Nofisat Adefala Career
Adefala’s career has taken her across more than one para sport. She has been listed on Nigerian teams in sitting volleyball and 3×3 wheelchair basketball.
One of the earliest records of her national team involvement is the ParaVolley Africa Sitting Volleyball Zone Championship held in Lagos in 2024. World ParaVolley named her in Nigeria’s women’s squad for the competition at Teslim Balogun Stadium in Surulere.
Although World ParaVolley labels the event as the 2023 championships, the matches were held from January 29 to February 3, 2024. The tournament served as an African qualifier for the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games.
The Nigerian women’s team was coached by Bridget Anum. Adefala’s teammates included Gbemisola Olabisi Ijigbamigbe, who later joined her on Nigeria’s wheelchair basketball team. Goodness Nwachukwu, who represented Nigeria in para athletics at Glasgow 2026, was also on the volleyball roster.
In March 2026, the Nigeria Wheelchair Basketball Federation invited Adefala to a training camp in Abuja. The camp was organised before the African qualifiers for the Commonwealth Games. It was scheduled for March 8 to March 21 at the Moshood Abiola National Stadium.
The federation invited 16 players across its men’s and women’s teams. Adefala went on to be named in the four-person women’s squad for the tournament in Luanda, Angola. Her teammates were Ijigbamigbe, Chituru Grace Nwaozuzu and Titilayo Tope Olaleye.
The team played in the 3×3 format of wheelchair basketball. Each side has three players on the court and one substitute. Matches are played on a half-court with one basket. A game lasts 10 minutes unless a team reaches 21 points first.
A basket from inside the arc is worth one point, while a shot from outside the arc is worth two. The scoring system helps explain why final scores in 3×3 matches can differ from those in regular basketball.
Nigeria won the women’s African qualifier and earned a place at Glasgow 2026. Ijigbamigbe was the national team captain, and Adefala was one of the four players registered for the campaign.
Around the same period, reports on the 2026 National Para Games named Yetunde Adefala as the captain of Enugu State’s women’s wheelchair basketball team. The name matches Nofisat’s sporting records, although the reports did not give the captain’s full name.
The National Para Games took place in Abuja from late March to early April. The event brought together athletes representing different Nigerian states in sports that included wheelchair basketball and sitting volleyball.
Adefala remained part of the national squad for the Commonwealth Games in July 2026. The same four players registered in Angola were named in Nigeria’s women’s wheelchair basketball team for Glasgow.
Their matches took place at the Scottish Event Campus. Nigeria faced Scotland, Wales and India in the group stage before moving into a knockout play-in against Australia.
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Nofisat Adefala Achievements
Adefala’s national team experience in sitting volleyball came at a major African competition. Nigeria finished third in the women’s standings at the 2024 ParaVolley Africa Zone Championship, behind Rwanda and Kenya.
Only three countries took part in the women’s competition. Nigeria faced Kenya twice and Rwanda twice, losing all four matches in straight sets. Rwanda went on to beat Kenya in the final and secure the African qualifying place for the Paris Paralympics.
Her wheelchair basketball team had a stronger result at the 2026 African qualifier. FIBA’s tournament record shows that Nigeria lost its opening match 5-2 to South Africa, then beat Kenya 8-0 in the group stage.
Nigeria met Kenya again in the semi-final. FIBA records the match as a 5-2 win for Nigeria, although some news reports gave the score as 6-2. In the final on March 26, the Nigerians defeated South Africa 8-3. The result gave Nigeria the African women’s qualifying place for the Commonwealth Games.
The team won three of its four games in Luanda. It was the first time a Nigerian wheelchair basketball team had secured a place at the Commonwealth Games. Adefala shared that achievement with her teammates.
After the final, Nigeria Wheelchair Basketball Federation president Seyi Johnson said everyone involved in the sport had reason to share in the achievement. He credited years of work by people connected with Nigerian wheelchair basketball.
At the National Para Games in Abuja, the Enugu women’s wheelchair basketball team whose captain was reported as Yetunde Adefala beat Jigawa 6-0. The reports also mentioned players named Teniola and Shade.
Enugu finished first on the overall medal table with 40 gold, eight silver and seven bronze medals across the Games. That total belonged to the entire state team, not to Adefala alone.
In Glasgow, Nigeria opened with a 16-1 defeat to Scotland on July 25. Adefala scored Nigeria’s point. Wales then beat Nigeria 17-1 in the second group match, with Nwaozuzu scoring the Nigerian point.
The team’s best result came against India on July 27. Nigeria trailed by two points with less than two minutes remaining but fought back to win 7-6.
Adefala scored six points in that match, while Olaleye scored the other point. It was Nigeria’s first wheelchair basketball victory at the Commonwealth Games.
The result placed Nigeria third in its group and sent it through to face Australia for a place in the semi-finals. Australia won that match 19-2 on July 28. Adefala and Olaleye scored a point each for Nigeria.
Across the team’s four matches, the published scoring lists credit Adefala with eight of Nigeria’s 11 points. Australia went on to win bronze in the women’s event, while Nigeria’s campaign ended without a medal.
There is another result that may relate to her. In September 2024, P.M. News reported that a competitor named Adefala Nofisat finished second in the women’s wheelchair category at the Lotus Bank 10km race in Abeokuta. The report did not provide a middle name or identify the racer as the basketball player, so the match cannot be confirmed from that report alone.
Nofisat Adefala Family
Adefala’s sporting profiles focus on her competitions rather than her home life. Her parents’ and siblings’ names have not been independently confirmed. Reliable sources have also not established whether she is married or has children.
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