The wishes of basketball fans in the country for the excellence of Nigeria’s male and female national teams, D’Tigers and D’Tigress, at both continental and international levels, which appeared to have been scuttled by the intermittent issues surrounding the leadership crises in the Nigeria Basketball Federation (NBBF), appear to now be a thing of the past. This is because last week, the Federal Government formally inaugurated the NBBF board, which was elected into their positions ten months ago at the Federation elections that held in Benin and where Musa Kida was re-elected as President. It was supposed to be the ultimate word in the leadership tussle at the Federation that had bedevilled basketball governance in the country over two election cycles.
The origin of the remote conflict that the Federation was desperate to put behind it can be putatively traced to issues of constitutional disparities in the lead up to the Federation’s Elective Congress of October 30 last year. As THEWILL reported at the time, at the end of September 2021, when the Nigeria Olympic Committee (NOC), working in collaboration with the Federal Ministry of Youth and Sports Development (FMYSD) gave the then quarrelsome factions of the Nigeria Basketball Federation (NBBF) no fewer than 21 days within which to resolve their differences, ahead of a planned schedule for the belated Elective Congress into the sporting Board of the Federation, it was believed that a consensual position will be reached to allow the electoral process to progress without hiccups and, from that resolution, create a pathway towards internal cohesion that is focussed on advancing the objectives of the Federation for Basketball in the country.
Unfortunately, as the Federation approached the October 30 schedule for the Elective Congress, there were even darker clouds of uncertainty and broader issues of divisive matters that only served to worsen the internal wranglings of factions in the Federation and required the involvement of the Sports Ministry.
Sunday Dare, the Honourable Minister of Youth and Sports Development, brought the factions to the table to address the issues at stake and from this sitdown with the NOC President, Habu Gumel met with the NBBF parties at the minister’s office at the Moshood Abiola National Stadium, a path towards a peaceful Congress was laid with a 21-day period granted to iron out all conflicting issues within its ranks ahead of the Congress. The cordial nature of the resolution gave the promise of consensus ahead of the Congress.
The factions on both sides of the NBBF leadership issue were Tijani Umar, a former NBBF President, and Kida, the immediate past chairman and the same one who was returned as President and inaugurated last week. It was at that meeting with the Ministry and the NOC that it was uncovered that the bone of contention was a constitutional dispute and why they were granted 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 Ministry, 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.
With the Congress near and the fractional issues behind them, 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, with the mind to proceed with the Congress accordingly. However, circumstances around the Congress took a turn for the worse when the very wranglings that prompted a 21-day postponement led to another intervention by the Ministry, which, on October 26, indefinitely suspended the Congress via a statement signed by the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Youth and Sports Development, Ismaila Abubakar. But, the NBBF negated the claims in the press release, claiming that it amounted to “an usurpation of the powers of the NBBF Congress as enshrined in the NBBF Statutes.”
A standoff was likely until the Congress blinked and yielded to the indefinite postponement from the Ministry after a virtual meeting of the involved parties on October 28. Kida decided to respect the position of the Ministry and allow a peaceful resolution of all the issues raised for credible elections to take place into the NBBF Board. A Communique issued by the Elective Congress affirmed that the NBBF had unanimously agreed to postpone the Elective Congress by a few weeks. When the elections finally held in January this year, in the presence of international observers, including FIBA representatives, Kida was re-elected as the president of the NBBF for a further four years. If that was all, it could have been manageable but Kida’s victory was disputed by a different faction, led by Igoche Mark, who claimed to have won the NBBF presidency in a different election that took place on the same day, January 30, in Abuja. This sparked a dilemma that ultimately prevented the government from recognising any side as the legitimate sport’s governing body.
Then, on Thursday, May 12, the FG unilaterally mandated the complete withdrawal of the Nigerian senior male and female basketball teams from all international competitions for a two-year period, effective immediately leaving the dedicated players in D’Tigers and D’Tigress teams incredulously astounded. The FG pointed to the internal wranglings in the NBBF as the basis for the decision and planned to set up an interim committee to monitor basketball leagues across the country with a view to developing the sport from the grassroots. It as a shocking turn of events that left the fortunes of the best male and female teams in Africa hanging on the precipice of decline even as there was the very real possibility of further ban by the FIBA.
Indeed, FIBA’s Head of Legal, Jaime Lamboy, in a letter addressed to Kida and dated May 18, clearly stated that there will be repercussions for the lateral withdrawal and government interference as Nigeria stood the risk of being suspended for violating Article 9.7, which carried the consequence of missing out on the 2024 Olympic Games as well as the 2025 World Championships for both men and women national teams.
Also, the IMC established to manage basketball for the period of the withdrawal was not charged to resolve the leadership wrangling, which was the source of the Federation’s problems. Instead, 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) were tasked to devise programmes that will revitalise basketball inh free Nigeria at the grassroots level, resuscitate its dormant domestic leagues, and seek corporate sponsors to help the game grow. The threat of suspensions, the backlash from the unilateral withdrawal and popular opposition to the decision forced the FG to rethink the ban. By mid-August, the two-year withdrawal was revoked and the IMC dissolved.
However, the withdrawal order had already wrecked havoc in the six-week period it was in place. The most egregious of the fallout from the withdrawal was that FIBA had to fill the slot vacated by D’Tigress team by effect of the government’s withdrawal and had replaced Nigeria with the Malian women’s team for the 2022 World Cup, putting all the efforts the ladies put into qualifying in vain. Added to the disillusionment of some of the D’Tigers players, who came into the Nigerian team from the NBA and who were fed up with the effects of the crisis at the Federation and stayed away from the team after the disappointment of the Olympics and a very deep existential crisis was brewing before the inauguration of the Kida-led Board last week.
The hope of basketball fans now is that the Federation, whose inaugurated members include Vice President Babatunde Ogunade, Secretary General Njoku Peter Abba Kaka, Professor Yakassai, Professor Adeyanju, Adamu Deshi, Ugo Udezue, Okoro Victor, Olumide Oyedeji, Suraju Yusuf, Felix Awogu and Sam Ahmedu will realise the enormity of the tasks ahead of them and sincerely dedicate themselves to the mandate of securing the country’s leadership position in male and female basketball on the continent whilst competing favourably abroad.
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.
