Afrobasket: Hon Ekene Adams celebrates D’Tigress historic win

 

Chairman House Committee on Sports Honourable Ekene Abubakar Adams has congratulated Nigeria’s female basketball team, D’Tigress for winning the 2023 FIBA Women’s Afrobasket Championship for the fourth consecutive time in a row.

The Rena Wakama- led D’Tigress proved their dominance in the women's basket after edging 11-time African champions, Senegal 84-74 to claim their sixth championship at the BK Arena in Kigali, Rwanda on Saturday.

Saturday's trump, means D’Tigress will compete for a spot at the women’s basketball event of the 2024 Olympics.

Adams, a member representing Chikun/Kajuru Federal Constituency, Kaduna State in the 10th House of Representatives; could not hide his delight after the feat.

"Congratulations to our women's Basketball team- D’Tigress and the entire backroom staff. The team has showed their dominance in the sport in Africa, and they showed the Nigeria never-say-die attitude going unbeaten in Kigali.

"The team showcased their talent to Africans and the world as they kept fans seated on their edge of their seats with quality basketball skills all their games at the BK Arena.

"Rena Wakama have also made Nigerian women proud, as she was the was the only female coach at the 2023 FIBA Women’s Afrobasket Championship and she did better what any man can do at the event.

"Kudos to the Nigerian Basketball Federation (NBBF) on the choice of Wakama, as its has now proven to be well-thought-out as she brought her wealth of experience, having previously represented Nigeria as a national team player.

"Am pouring praise on Amy Okonkwo too, as was a star, having played a huge role in helping Nigeria clinch the 2023 FIBA Women's AfroBasket, and, as a result, the 26-year-old was named the TISSOT MVP of the tournament.

"Recall, throughout Nigeria's unbeaten run (5-0) in the Rwandan capital of Kigali, Okonkwo was the heart -and-soul of the D'Tigresses, averaging a team-high of 17.2 points while contributing 8.2 rebounds per game.

"Along the way, Okonkwo became the only Nigeria to register two double-doubles (Murjanatu Musa registered one).

"A heroic welcome awaits them, as I, my House Committee on Sports memeber and well-meaning Nigerians will be at the airport to welcome them."

Saturday's trump, means D’Tigress will compete for a spot at the women’s basketball event of the 2024 Olympics.

Basketball: Kida scores his NBBF leadership high

 

The Caretaker Committee Chairman of the Nigeria Basketball Federation (NBBF) Engr Ahmadu Musa Kida has scored his administration high, despite all the challenges faced. 

Kida who presented the  Score Card of some of his achievements to the stakeholders at the Extraordinary Congress held in Abuja at the weekend, said as a Board since he was elected as the NBBF President in 2017, including his tenure as Chairman of the Caretaker Committee from July 2021, that Nigeria’s Women has participated in and won 3 Women Afrobasket Competitions in Mali, Senegal and most recently Cameroon (2017, 2019 & 2021 respectively). "In basketball parlance we call these feats a “Three Peat “or “Back -to -Back -to Back”.  Winning this Tournaments enabled Nigeria to participate in the 2018 FIBA Women World Cup, in Tenerife, Spain, the 2020 Olympic Qualifying Tournaments and the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games in Tokyo, Japan. At the 2018 Women World Cup in Spain, Nigeria set an African record reaching the Quarterfinals, the first by an African Women Team in World Basketball history. Our D’Tigress beat Turkey, Argentina, and Greece before falling to Team USA in the Quarter Finals after a close first half". 

 

" Nigeria’s Men had participated in the 2017 Men’s Afro Basket after just 2 weeks of Camping and won silver medal, beating highly rated teams like Cote D'Ivoire, Mali, Cameroon, and Senegal, after just two weeks camping. We also participated in the 2019 FIBA World Cup African Qualifiers and after 4 rounds of matches became the 1st country across the globe to qualify for the World Cup in China. Nigeria hosted 2 of the 4 World Cup Windows and it is gratifying that as a result of this Nigerians saw topflight international Basketball and our Nigerian Stars playing at home after a long time. The extra incentive is that our Men’s Team used the opportunity of the 2019 FIBA World Cup in China, for which our National Team also qualified as No. 1 in the Africa, as our route to qualifying directly for the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo. In the process, Nigeria beat teams like North Korea, Cote D’Ivoire and the mighty Chinese Team before their home fans to pick an Olympic ticket as Africa’s sole representative at the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games.  It is also instructive to add that Nigeria was among the few select countries whose Male and Female Teams both qualified for the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games. The others been Australia, France, USA and host Japan.  This is another record in the anals of African Basketball" 

Kida said "at the 3x3 level which is the new wave in basketball, we participated in many tournaments across the globe and these include Tornoi Salamatou Maiga 3x3 Tournament, an U 18 for Boys and Girls Tournament in Mali, in September, 2017 and 2018, as well as the African Youth Games in Algeria 2018, where our National U18 Boys & Girls Teams both placed 2nd  respectively. We also participated in the African Beach Games in Cape Verde in 2019. Our Senior Men and Women 3x3 Teams are amongst the highest ranked teams in Africa.  Of particular note is the fact that our Men were African Champions in 2017 and have participated in the 2018 World Cup in Manila, Philippines, while our Women and Men’s Team won Gold and Bronze Medals respectively at the All-Africa Games in Morocco in Rabat, 2019.   Our participation in these 3x3 competitions with the desired impact is an indication of the interest of the NBBF under my leadership to develop youth basketball in Nigeria. It is not a surprise therefore that FIBA considers Nigeria as the hotbed of 3x3 Basketball in Africa based on the popularity of the event in Nigeria and the support FIBA 3x3 Department receives from Nigeria. With absolute pride, I wish to state that Nigeria led by well committed 3 x 3 afficionados continues to spearhead the development of 3x3 in Nigeria and FIBA Africa Zone III.  

 We did organize successfully, a series of courses for our Technical Officials between 2017 and date. These include the FIBA Statisticians Certification Course in conjunction with FIBA in October, 2017. The last time Nigeria had held such a Programme before then was in 2003, thus underscoring our commitment to training of our Technical officials. One (1)Technical Delegate,  five (5) Technical Commissioners and  Nine (9) Referees  recently undertook FIBA organized web examinations in order to renew /obtain their  respective FIBA licenses.  I am pleased to announce that through the effort of the NBBF to uplift our Technical Officials, Nigeria now has one Female FIBA graded Referee in Yahaya Fatima Ibrahim along with the crop of male referees we have in our midst. And it is not a surprise therefore, that referee Kingsley Ojeaburu of Nigeria officiated at the 2021 Afro Basket Qualifiers (First Window) in Kigali, Rwanda, 2021 FIBA U-19 World Championship, in Latvia, 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games, in Tokyo, Japan  and the 2021 Afrobasket for Men in Kigali, Rwanda, while Opeyemi Ogunleye officiated at the  2021 Afrobasket Women Tournament in Yaoundé, Cameroon. In the same vein, Col Sam Ahmedu (Rtd), a FIBA Technical Delegate was invited to preside as a TD at the 2021 Afro Basketball Qualifiers (First Window) in Rwanda and the 2021 Afrobasket Women Tournament, in Yaoundé, Cameroon".

He said that, the NBBF also organized successfully, the FIBA Africa Zone 3 Champions Cup Qualifiers in October 2017, in Lagos, for the first time in as much as nearly a decade.  This is part of the goals set by Board to host as many Worlds, Zonal and Sub Zone FIBA competitions as possible.

" Also, our Nigerian Club sides, male and female, also continue to perform creditably in continental competitions. First Bank won back-to-Back bronze medals at the FIBA Women Champions Club Final Rounds in 2017 and 2018, while Defenders of Abuja and Rivers Hoopers of Port Harcourt qualified for the Elite 8 and Group Stage of the inaugural FIBA Afro League Competition, respectively. Rivers Hoopers also represented Nigeria at the inaugural Basketball Africa League (BAL), organized by FIBA and sponsored by the NBA in Kigali, Rwanda, in June 2021"    

" Let me also add that our Sponsorship portfolio took some hit occasioned by  area. We have maintained sponsors like Zenith Bank and secured sponsorship for our National Divisions 1/2 Men's Leagues from Total E&P Nigeria Ltd. The Sponsorship which ran for an initial two years have been extended by another 5 years by the Sponsor.  This represents the first time in the history of Nigerian basketball that our Federation is having a sponsor for any lower tier of the Nigerian League.  The new Division 2 League format provides for 74 teams who compete at the State level, leading up to the Divisional, Conference and National Finals. Also, lots of sponsors which included GTB committed support to the World Cup Qualifying programmes that assisted the NBBF in hosting the World Cup Qualifiers in Lagos"

"There are lots more accolades to mention which include, proper Camping and training for our National Teams players in Europe and the USA which has enabled the Teams to perform well. Victories over the USA Men’s and the Argentinian National Teams with their array of top-class players in Las Vegas, USA/ Pre -Olympic Games Tournament was not a fluke. In the same vein, the D’Tigres beat teams like Serbia, Belgium and Puerto Rico in their warmup matches undertaken across Europe before the Tokyo Olympic Game this past summer. The effect is that Nigeria is no longer considered minnows in World Basketball and our FIBA Ranking has improved with effect. The country should indeed be proud of our players for these humble achievements" Kida concluded

Sports Minister Extols Leadership Qualities of Musa Kida

The Honourable Minister of Youth and Sports Development, Mr. Sunday Dare on Monday extolled the leadership qualities of NBBF Caretaker Chairman Engr Ahmadu Musa Kida, describing him a passionate lover of basketball leading to his land breaking achievements in the Federation within the last four years. 

The Minister who spoke at victory party organized for  the senior national women basketball  team D'Tigress at the Afrobasketball Championship in Cameroon.

 He said the qualities of Engr Musa Kida will further be needed to place the sport in an enviable position worldwide. That winning three trophies in four years is a commendable feat. 

Nigeria's D'Tigress beat Mali on Sunday to emerge African Champions for the third consecutive time, affirming their position as the African queens of the court. 

Speaking further, the Minister who described the victory of the D'Tigeress as an Independence gift to the country,  appreciated and congratulated the team and the entire Nigeria Basketball Federation(NBBF)family under the leadership of Engineer Musa Kida for their feat.

"You have their story, you have their history and you have their journey so far," Sunday Dare opened up to the gathering, "The journey actually took them to the Olympics. Even after the Olympics. The ladies dusted themselves up and they showed that fire in Cameroon.

"I want to congratulate them for winning the Afrobasketball trophy and that is gold, you can see the Golden Cup here for third consecutive time.

"They have shown a rare dominance, the dominance of the women basketball terrain by D'Tigress from the African continent, I can say it's now undisputable. We have seen how they are also blending the home based players with the foreign players that is the DNA of our Sports as a country whether it is basketball or football, that blend always works for us.

"I want to thank each and every player, those that went to the Olympics, those that went to Senegal and those that went to Cameroon, that entire team has always done this country proud and I know that they have more victories ahead of them.

"I also thank them for putting Nigeria on the global map of basketball, the same goes to D'Tigers. I can now say that Nigeria is truly a basketball nation.

"We are happy that this is also a benefitting present to Mr President Muhammadu Buhari and the entire country as we are about to celebrate the 61st Independence Day Anniversary." Dare concluded.

Sports Minister hails unstoppable D'Tigress for Afrobasket triumph

Sunday Dare, the Youth and Sports Development Minister has poured encomiums on Nigeria's senior women basketball team- D'Tigress for their victory at the 2021 Afrobasketball championships in Cameroon.

The Nigerian ladies, now African queens of the court, captured their third consecutive Afrobasketball championships title on Sunday after beating Mali by 70-59 in the final.

The performance of D'Tigress was so dominant all through the championships that many bookmakers had tipped them to retained their crown even before today's final.

An elated Sports Minister Sunday Dare said Nigeria's victory is confirmation of her dominance of the sport in Africa.

"Clearly now Nigeria's dominance of the sport is indisputable. This is the evidence that Nigeria's women basketball can be ranked as a World class programme. We have to sustain this momentum. This is remarkable, winning the Afrobasketball Championships for an unprecedented third time.

"I salute the team(D'Tigress) for their professional commitment and execution. They have done the nation proud and maintained the positive results we have achieved in sports in the last few weeks." Dare said.

In the last ten weeks, Nigeria has had a lot to cheer in international sports competitions, winning nineteen medals from the Olympics, Paralympics and the World U20 Athletics Championships and now capturing gold for the third consecutive time in the Women Afrobasketball Championships.

Afrobasket 2021: Sports Minister celebrates D'Tigress' final berth

Youth and Sports Development Minister Sunday Dare has congratulated Nigeria's senior women basketball team, D'Tigress for qualifying for the final of the 2021 Afrobasket women championship in  Cameroon.

D'Tigress defeated their Senegalese opponents 73-63 in Friday night's semifinals to book a place in their third consecutive finals.

The Youth and Sports Minister commended the team for their superlative performance in the tournament and praised them for doing the nation proud.

The Minister urged the team to crown what has been a remarkable tournament with  victory in the final so that their status as the 'Queens of the   Court' on the African continent  can be confirmed.

The defending champions will face Mali in the final after the Malians defeated the hosts  Cameroon 52-51 in the other semi final game.

Afrobasket: Emir of Kano Ado Bayero Cheers D'Tiger in Rwanda

As part of his love, passion for the game of Basketball in the country, the Emir of Kano, His Royal Highness, Aminu Ado Bayero alongside members of the royal house was in Kigali, Rwanda on Sunday to cheer the Nigeria's men basketball team, D'Tigers at the ongoing FIBA Afrobasket. 

The traditional ruler's presence at the stadium on Sunday showed an unwavering support and affection for the game of basketball in the country.

The Emir of Kano, His Royal Highness Ado Bayero a close friend of NBBF Caretaker Chairman Engr. Musa Kida, is an ardent follower and fan of the D’Tigers, went with his entourage to cheer the team.

However, the show of love by Emir revealed that Nigeria Basketball Federation, Caretaker Committee Chairman Engr. Musa Kida is living up to expectations and has all it take to take game of Basketball to the next levels in the country .

Though, the team lost the game 68-77pts to Côte d’Ivoire in their last group C game after winning the two previous games.

All hope is not lost for a medal finish as the team led by Coach Brown is eager to see how they can bounce back from this minor setback.