October 31, (THEWILL) – At the end of September, when the Nigeria Olympic Committee (NOC), working in collaboration with the Federal Ministry of Youth and Sports Development (FMYSD) gave the feuding factions within the Nigeria Basketball Federation (NBBF) no fewer than 21 days to resolve their differences, ahead of a planned schedule for an elective congress into the Board of the federation, it was believed that a consensual position would be reached to allow the electoral process to progress without hiccups and, from that resolution, create a pathway towards internal cohesion that is focused on advancing the objectives of the federation.
If current realities within the NBBF itself, with the leadership scuffle between Tijani Umar, a former NBBF President, and Musa Kida, the immediate past chairman on the one hand, and its very public spat with the rank and file of sports administration in the country, on the other, are anything to base a conclusion on, then it is beyond reasonable doubt to state that the 21-daysextension did not yield the expected fruits. The conflict has not been doused nor have the involved warring parties sheathed their swords for the sake of federation’s progress and for Nigerian basketball.
In fact, as the NBBF approached the October 30 schedule for the elective congress, there are even dark clouds of uncertainty and broader issues of divisive matters that have elevated the once internal wrangling of the factions to the national stage with the involvement of the Ministry of Sports.
These wranglings have only grown in intensity as the elections approached to the point of threatening the very process itself, especially after the FMYSD went public with an order that immediately suspended the elections, but which the NBBF immediately rebuffed as an over-reach.
It is an unexpected turn of events, especially within sports governance and the ministry, which is still dealing with the concatenating factors involved in the ban of athletes from Team Nigeria’s contingent to the Tokyo Olympic Games 2020 by the Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU) and the consequent disappointing show at the entire event, which have been blamed squarely within the matrix of divisions at the leadership level in the Athletics Federation of Nigeria (AFN).
The parties involved shared an optimism for a peaceful resolution at the time of the postponement. A former NBBF board member, Mukhtar Khaled, during the tenure of Tijani Umar, who was at the September 29 meeting where the decision was taken to give the federation 21 days to iron out divisions within its ranks, disclosed that the Minister of Youth and Sports Development, Sunday Dare, and the NOC President, Habu Gumel, met with the NBBF parties in the minister’s office at the Moshood Abiola National Stadium on Wednesday and the cordial nature of the resolution gave the promise of consensus, ahead of the congress.
Khaled was quick to declare the intervention of the combined efforts of the FMYSD and NOC a success as it brought the Umar and Kida factions to the table to chart a course forward based on mutual objectives for the sake of the good of Basketball in Nigeria. The fulfilling discussions that were held hinged on resolving all divisions and lingering contentions that these factions considered relevant to their causes, which may be inimical to progress should they continue to adversely affect Basketball governance in Nigeria.
At that meeting, it was uncovered that the bone of contention was a constitutional dispute. This discovery was the rationale for allowing a 21-day period to afford the rival factions time to comb through the constitution and compile areas with grievances for each party and forward this compilation to the FMYSD, who promised to work together with the NOC in finding a workable pathway that will bring an end to the wranglings and allow peace to reign in the Federation.
If Khaled gave voice to the Umar faction in expressing optimism for a resolution of the infighting, Kida himself considered the FMYSD-NOC intervention a positive step towards progress and peace. The immediate past chairman was particularly impressed with the decision to allow the process be guided by the NBBF Constitution but called for a mutually agreeable process by which the mandate of the Constitution will be effected and the manner in which the contentious issues therein will be amended. Kida expressed his desire for what he termed “an excellent Constitution” while insisting that he was not going to be a “roadblock initiative” in the process of uniting the basketball family.
Believing the fractional issues behind them leading towards the final weeks of October, the NBBF complied with their statutes, which were confirmed by FIBA, the world Basketball governing body, by instituting an Electoral Committee chaired by the respectable Dr Lanre Glover, a two-time Vice President of NOC, based on his wealth of experience in over 20 elections at the national and international stage. Glover accepted to midwife an electoral process that all Nigerians and basketball stakeholders will be proud of and was optimistic that with all members of the electoral committee being men and women of strong and reliable character, a hitch free election will be organised.
However, circumstances around the Elective Congress took a turn for the worse when the very wranglings that prompted a 21-day postponement led to another intervention by the FMYSD only a few days to the October 30 Congress date. On Tuesday, October 26, the news broke that the Ministry had indefinitely suspended the Congress via a statement signed by the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Youth and Sports Development, Ismaila Abubakar, on Monday. The suspension was founded on the need to avert further deterioration of the leadership crisis that had engulfed the federation which had persisted despite several attempts by the Ministry to resolve them.
Reacting swiftly, the NBBF negated the claims made in the FMYSD press release, while stating that any such suspension amounted to “an usurpation of the powers of the NBBF Congress as enshrined in the NBBF Statutes.” The refutation, which was signed by Kida, in his current position as the NBBF caretaker committee chairman, pointedly concluded, “In view of the full arrangements already made for the Elective Congress in Benin, on the 30th of October, 2021, We hereby wish to inform all invited delegates and Candidates that the NBBF is still going ahead with the Elective Congress as approved by the Extraordinary congress of the 9th of October, 2021, unless it is decided otherwise by the NBBF Congress.”
On Wednesday, October 27, Glover reiterated the resolve of the Electoral Committee he chairs to proceed with the schedule for the Elective Congress in apparent disregard of the suspension from the Ministry and the purported dissolution of the Committee by the Secretary-General of the NBBF that followed the statement of the FMYSD Permanent Secretary. Glover’s stance was on the notion that the Electoral Committee remained unaware of anything that has changed that may justify a volte-face on the holding of elections. And because the Electoral Committee was set up by a duly constituted Congress of the NBBF and is responsible to that Congress, whose authority is supreme, they were going to proceed with their task of organising the elections.
To this end, and with a standoff likely, the Electoral Committee will proceed to conduct the 2021 NBBF election on October 30 as stipulated by the NBBF Congress. There is the possibility that a lot can still happen before that takes place even though all arrangements have been put in place for the Congress in Benin City and FIBA, FMYSD and NOC representatives have been invited as observers. It would appear that another AFN-type crises is imminent.
Just when the Ministry was seeking a fresh direction for sports governance with recent elections and new mandates in the various boards of different federations, the last thing it needed was infighting and determined stance against directives of the Ministry as has been witnessed recently in the NBBF imbroglio. The FMYSD and NOC desired to avoid a situation of this magnitude when they allowed the Federation a 21-day grace, believing that the need for peaceful resolution of the outstanding divisions will create the best atmosphere for the Elective Congress to run smoothly. But, circumstances have dictated that the crises is a lot deeper than what 21 days can impact. It points to more squabbles and scuffles in the NBBF and that is clearly unfortunate.
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.
