FG unbans basketball, urges Kida to embrace other stakeholders

[FILES] D’Tigress of Nigeria. Photo; TWITTER/ Bballnaija

The Federal Government, yesterday, reversed its decision to withdraw Nigerian teams from international competitions for two years. But this is coming after Nigeria’s women national team, D’Tigress, which had earlier qualified for the 2022 FIBA Women World Cup billed to hold in Australia, had been replaced with Mali by FIBA.

The Federal Government had on May 12, 2022, withdrawn Nigerian men and women teams, including youth sides, from international competitions, saying it will use the period to reorganise the sport in the country and also lay a grassroots development pathway.

It also named an interim management committee, headed by Dr. Henry Nzekwu, to oversee the sport during the period. But a statement signed by Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of Youth and Sports Development, Alhaji Ismaila Abubakar, yesterday, cited “intervention by concerned stakeholders, former Nigerian international basketball players and well-meaning Nigerians to seek for solutions to the issues that triggered the decision,” as some of the significant events that led to government’s decision to change its stance on the issues.

The statement also disclosed that the Ministry of Sports held a video conference meeting with the top hierarchy of FIBA, adding that the parley “produced common understanding in certain general areas, concluding with a commitment by both FIBA and Nigeria to explore and collaborate on enhancing relationships, development of basketball and reaffirming mutual respect for the laws and Constitution of Nigeria as a sovereign state, and also FIBA.”

It added that the leadership of the Nigeria Basketball Federation (NBBF), led by Musa Kida, on June 17 wrote a letter of appeal to