NBBF Elective Congress now to hold October 30 in Benin

 

The Congress of the Nigeria Basketball Federation has approved Saturday, 30^th of October for elections into the Executive board of the federation.

At its extraordinary congress held on Saturday, 9^th of October in Abuja, the congress ratified Benin as the host city while also adopting the proposed Electoral Committee to be chaired by Dr. Lanre Glover.

Glover will be deputized by Alh. Mohammed Sani Fema with Dr. Femi Olugbile, Hauwa Kulu-Akinyemi as members while Emmanuel Okibe will act as Secretary of the committee.

With all the 36 states and Federal Capital Territory Basketball Chairmen and Secretaries in attendance, the congress also approved the appointment of Mrs. Ize Matebese as Chairman of the 2021 NBBF Electoral Appeals Committee alongside General David Lubo (rtd.)  (Member) and Emmanuel Zira as Secretary.

At the congress chaired by the Caretaker Chairman of the Nigeria Basketball Federation, Engr Musa Kida, all stakeholders were requested to submit any observations for addition or amendment to the constitution for process according the Article 38 of NBBF approved Constitution.

This was unanimously agreed as part of the ongoing process to amend the constitutions which was described as a continuous exercise as enshrined in the constitution.

In attendance was the Honourable Minister of Sports, Chief Sunday Dare who was represented by the Permanent Secretary Ismaila Abubakar who was also present in his own personal capacity.

Engr. Ishaku Tikon represented the Nigeria Olympic Committee President, Engr Habu Gumel, Dr. Simon Ebhojiaye, Acting Director (FEAD) was also on ground alongside Prof. Florence Adeyanju, Member, Caretaker Committee, NBBF.

61 Athletes to fly Team Nigeria Flag in Tokyo

Team Nigeria will depart for the Tokyo  2020 Olympics  in two batches with 61 athletes flying the country's flag, says Minister of Youth and sports Development Mr Sunday Dare.

The  Minister  made this  disclosure on Monday while  addressing the plenary meeting with National Sports Federations for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic and Paralympic games at the Moshood Abiola National Stadium, Abuja.

According to the Minister,
"The emergence of COVID-19 pandemic in the first quarter of 2020  affected the organisational structures of both the Olympic and Paralympic  Games. This consequently pushed International Federations (IFs) to review their international sporting calendar and qualification pathway for athletes in their quest to participate at the Games.

These challenges, no doubt were difficult to overcome, but could not stop us as a great nation in ensuring that our athletes are strongly supported and motivated to achieve this milestone.

"I must sincerely commend each and every one of you for your commitment and for standing together in this journey. Specifically, I thank President Muhammadu Buhari for his immense support in approving and ensuring that funds were released to enable our athletes attend series of
qualification tournaments.

As at today, Nigeria has qualified 61 athletes across 9 Sports for the
Olympics, and 22 athletes in 4 Sports for the Paralympic Games, which are: Athletics-22, Badminton-3,  Basketball-24, Canoe sprint-1, Gymnastic-1, Rowing-1, Taekwondo-1, TableTennis-1,  Wrestling-1 which sums up to 61 and for Paralympic Games we have;
Para Athletics-5, Para Powerlifting-10, power rowing-1, Para Table Tennis-6 summing up to 22."

The Minister further  said "The recent qualification of Nigeria for the Women’s 4x100m, Women’s 4x400m and 4x400m Mixed Relays was a significant achievement for the country, while still awaiting the World Athletics (WA) to ratify the slots in a  few days.

The Ministry in collaboration with the Nigerian Olympic Committee has
scheduled a 14-day Pre-Games Training Camp (PGTC) for the athletes in
Kisarazu , Japan. This move is to further expose the athletes to adequate
preparations ahead of their events as well as to give them ample time to adjust to the Japanese time zone. It is also strategic to meet with COVID-19
regulations. For the Olympic Games, the first batch of the athletes are scheduled to depart for Kisarazu on 6th July, 2021 while the second batch depart on 13th July, 2021. The paralympic Teams will depart in one batch on 8th August, 2021.

The Minister said  in order to ensure a hitch-free participation  in Tokyo, the Ministry had engaged four (4) Travel Agencies to handle flight tickets of Team Nigeria Contingents.

"As the Games are gradually approaching, I feel it would be necessary for us to finalize on our strategies towards ensuring podium success at both the Olympics and the  Paralympic Games",the Minister concluded.

Signed

*Media office of the Honourable Minister of Youth and Sports Development*