It's not the controller.ini, because the game wouldn't even boot if the .ini file is missing.
Chances are either he forgot to enable HID, or the controller.ini is not properly configured.
Please, check the HID is enabled in Settings and if that's not the issue then check the controller.ini in your computer and make sure the Sticks are correctly configured.
If hid is disabled in the settings in a wii, would it still not boot? Anyways, maybe you're right and it's just misconfigured.