May 29, (THEWILL) – On Thursday, May 12, basketball fans across the country were stunned with the news that the Nigerian government had 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.
If fans were stunned, the dedicated players in D’Tigers and D’Tigress teams were incredulously astounded. The decision of the Federal Government, which was passed through the Minister of Youth and Sports Development, Sunday Dare, to journalists in a briefing held in Abuja, shpwed that President Muhammadu Buhari approved this withdrawal.
The minister, who was represented at the briefing by Ismaila Abubakar, the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry, stated that an interim committee would be appointed to monitor basketball leagues across the country, with a view to developing the sport from the grassroots.
Pointing to internal wranglings in the administration of the sport in the country as the basis for the decision, he said, “Following the unending crisis which have plagued and nearly crippled the development of basketball in Nigeria, President Buhari has approved the withdrawal of Nigeria from all international basketball competitions for a period of two years. This is with immediate effect. This will also allow for the setting up of an Interim Management Committee (IMC) to oversee the management and development of the domestic basketball leagues in Nigeria.”
Dare also reaffirmed the government’s interest in and commitment to the growth of basketball in Nigeria, as well as the enormous abilities of young talents domestically, in an atmosphere free of squabbles and rancour.
He therefore urged players, officials, fans, and all stakeholders in the sport to be calm while the government undertakes far-reaching steps to reposition, sustain, and stabilise basketball for long-term growth and success in the country’s best interests.
It is yet another sordid chapter in sports governance in the country, with painful reminiscences of the crises that brought the Athletics Federation of Nigeria to its knees and resulted in the downgrading of the country from a Category B level to a Category A level and destroyed the sports fortunes of no fewer than 10 Nigerian athletes, who were rendered ineligible to participate in the 2020 Summer Olympics hosted in Tokyo Japan last year because they failed to take the required out-of-competition tests expected of a Category A country by the Athletics Integrity Unit of the World Anti-doping Agency (WADA). This time around, the fortunes of the best male and female teams in Africa hang on the precipice of decline with this two-year self-imposed ban, even as there is the possibility of further ban by the world basketball governing body, the International Basketball Federation (FIBA).
The origins of the leadership crises at the top of the Nigerian Basketball Federation (NBBF) goes back two whole elections ago and it circulates around the current president of the Federation, Engr Ahmadu Musa Kida. To trace the genesis of the issue requires that the circumstances surrounding the election of the Federation five years ago be involved.
The seeds of contested elections were sown at that election. Kida and his opponent, Tijani J. Umar, fought bitterly for the presidency of the NBBF. But, there were two elections held simultaneously.
Kida won the poll in Abuja, which was overseen by the Sports Ministry. In Kano, Umar went forward with his parallel election. Kida’s election was recognised by FIBA, allowing him the authority to hold sway at the NBBF for his first term. At the conclusion of that tenure four years after, Kida wanted a second term.
An NBBF congress convened correctly in Abuja voted to organise an elected congress in Benin City. As necessary for its legitimacy, it was endorsed by FIBA and the Ministry of Sports.
However, signs that all was not well at the ministry with the administration of the federation was acknowledged when the Dare used security as an excuse to postpone the NBBF polls scheduled for October 30 in Benin City, Edo State. Incidentally, this October ending date for the Congress was based on a 21-day deadline given to the NBBF by a collaboration between the sports ministry and the Nigeria Olympic Committee (NOC) as it was reasoned that an election will reconcile the quarrelsome factions of the Federation and give it a fresh start from whence to move forward. Instead, the wranglings in the Federation grew grown in intensity as the elections approached to the point of threatening the very process itself especially so that the Ministry had to postpone the Congress. After this postponement, the sports minister and the NOC president, Habu Gumel, met with the NBBF parties at the minister’s office at the Moshood Abiola National Stadium and the cordial nature of their resolution gave the promise of consensus ahead of the rescheduled Congress.
All these efforts notwithstanding, the typical parallel elections that have become an NBBF staple returned at the Federation’s polls again. Following the Ministry’s reconciliation efforts and the threats of a ban from FIBA from excessive interference from government and delay in organising their congress, Kida and his group, with the support of FIBA, decided to hold the Benin election on January 31 this year, with 28 states’ representatives in attendance. In addition, four of the seven elected representatives were at the occasion.
As observers, the National Olympic Committee (NOC) and the International Basketball Federation (FIBA) were also present. However, concurrently, Igoche Mark won a parallel election in Abuja, which included some current and former basketball players as delegates not backed by the Federation. Kida’s election in Benin was the one recognised by FIBA, which sent a letter acknowledging the leadership of the elected for the following four years. Those elected alongside Kida were Vice President: Babs Ogunade: North-central Rep. Deishi Adamu, North-east Rep. Abba Kaka, North-west Rep. Surajo Yusuf, South-east Rep. Ugo Udezue, South-south Rep. Ahamaudu Kida, South-west Rep. Olumide Oyedeji.
With parallel president Mark parading himself as the substantive head of the NBBF, there appears to be no end in sight in the crises at the helm of basketball governance.
Yet, there must be creative problem-solving actions to resort to than to hamper the steady growth that Basketball in the country is making instead of slamming it with a blanket ban for an entire two years, effectively jeopardising the contributions of patriotic sportsmen and women, who have laboured tirelessly to make Nigerian basketball a tour de force on the continent.
The hopes of the D’Tigress women’s national team to compete in the 2022 World Cup in Sydney, Australia are already in jeopardy, while the D’Tigers, who are expected to compete in window three of the 2023 FIBA Men’s World Cup qualifiers in Rwanda starting July 1, may be the first to be impacted by the sanction.
The consequences of the Federal Government’s action include incurring avoidable sanctions from FIBA. Although it has not officially acted on the two-year withdrawal, FIBA’s Head of Legal, Jaime Lamboy, in a letter addressed to Kida and dated May 18, spelt out what the repercussions of the lateral withdrawal could mean for the country because the action contravenes Article 9.7 of FIBA’s General Statutes, which states that “National member federations shall manage their affairs independently and with no influence from third parties.” FIBA might therefore decide to act according to Article 10.2 of the FIBA Statutes, that empowers the FIBA Central Board to suspend a national member federation for violating Article 9.7 on the Secretary-General’s suggestion. If acted upon, Nigeria will not only be barred from competing in the 2024 Olympic Games as well as the 2025 World Championships for both men and women but be also forced to miss subsequent competitions, losing all momentum so far actualised.
To highlight how manifestly unwieldy this entire decision to withdraw is, the Interim Management Committee (IMC) created to oversee the development of basketball in Nigeria was not exactly given the objective to straighten out the leadership crises. 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 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.
How this will happen in an atmosphere of presidential wranglings is a question the sports ministry will still have to answer while hoping that FIBA will exercise restrain in handing out penalties for the contravention of its rules.
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.
