May 24, (THEWILL) – The Federal Ministry of Youths and Sports Development has appointed members to an Interim Management Committee (IMC) to oversee the development of basketball in Nigeria, despite protests from some quarters following the decision to withdraw Nigerian basketball from all international competitions for two years.
As THEWILL reported, the Minister of Sports, Sunday Dare, acting on the instructions of President Muhammadu Buhari, ordered this withdrawal. It did not go down well with some basketball stakeholders, particularly the camp of factional NBBF president, Engineer Musa Kida.
A few days later, players from the senior women’s national team, D’Tigress, released a statement criticising the decision, claiming it is harmful to the players’ and Nigerian basketball’s future.
The response of the Ministry was to set up the IMC and name the following as members: Dr Henry Nzekwu, Mr Udon Ubon Humapwa, Mr Frank Jitubhoh, Zenith Bank representative, Prof. Adamu Ahmed, Mr Peter Nelson, Group Captain Rahinatu Garba, Aderemi Adewunmi, Oluchi Nzekwe, and Sani Adio (SAN).
The Ministry charged the Committee with the responsibility to devise programmes that will revitalise basketball in Nigeria at the grassroots level, resuscitate its dormant domestic leagues, and seek corporate sponsors to help the game grow.
There is still the risk of attracting some sanction from the world basketball governing body FIBA, which always frowns upon heavy-handed government interference in sporting governance.
About the Author
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
