By: Chinedum Ohanusi
The calls for a fresh start and the charting new pathway of sustainable growth for the game of basketball in Nigeria, has intensified with more stakeholders, calling on the calls for the current leadership of the Nigeria Basketball Federation (NBBF) anchored by Engr. Musa Ahmadu Kida, to step aside as President of the Board.
Most of the recent calls, were canvassed on virtually all the Social Media platforms in the country by fans, sports journalists and critical stakeholders of the slam and dunk game; moments after the nation’s senior men’s team, D’Tigers of Nigeria lost their second consecutive game 68-77 to the Eagles of Mali, in their Pre-Olympic qualifiers, for the Paris 2024 summer games.
Having lost their first game 87-93 to the Teranga Lions of Senegal on Monday Night; the D’Tigers ranked No.1 in Africa found themselves in a must win situation against 12th ranked Malians, and seemed to be on course to do just that, until a horrendous fourth quarter, when they completely lost their way, capitulated 7-24, and crashed out of the FIBA Pre-Olympic Qualifying Tournament, being staged in Lagos.
Mali with a match to spare against Senegal, thus joined the Teranga Lions in qualifying for the semifinals from the group, and will go on to face one of the two semifinalists from the other group, with only the eventual winner of the tournament, earning the sole African ticket, for the Final Rounds of the FIBA Olympics Qualifying Tournament in 2024.
Like one of the posts had it, “… but something must have gone wrong [with our basketball especially tonight and] in the last half. I don’t think our team ever lost like this”.
Another post read, “maybe they went on sabbatical after the earliest lead in this game. They seem to forgot that on the political scene Mali is flexing muscles with Nigeria because of Niger and have always been a bitter rival. It’s beyond a normal game to them and a thing of national pride. Our team officials should have deep psychological instincts and skills and should be willing to put everything on the line for their nations sake”.
Nigeria had on Monday also shockingly lost 87-93 to Senegal who are 3rd in the African ranking, and again a 4th quarter capitulation gave the Senegalese the victory.
Most of the critical stakeholders, have surprisingly excused the players and coaches; insisting that the blame should rest squarely on the the NBBF Board, especially its leadership which sidelines the majority of board members, believing they can successfully undertake such an important national venture, without a Local Organizing Committee (LOC). As a result they resorted to the use of person with vested business interests, rather than nationalistic considerations.
“Senegal, Mali and Cameroun all went on training tours in France and the United States preparatory to the competition in Lagos, while our players who were handpicked without the input of the NBBF board or Technical Committee gathered in Lagos, within a few days to the tournament. So, why won’t they perform badly”, an aggrieved member of the board retorted.
According to him, “it’s worthy of note that the team struggled most in the fourth quarter of both defeats; and this’s because even the home-based players camped in Lagos for less than a week, were not match fit; as there is no league ongoing in the country, and as a consequence, they were too tired after the first three periods” due to rustiness.
Another stakeholder blamed the reversals in the fortune of the D’Tigers of late to the sacking of Coach Alex Nwora. Hear him, “Since Nwora left the national team, Nigeria has not won anything. Under Nwora, Nigeria came 2nd in Afrobasket 2017, won an International Invitational Tournament in China and qualified Nigeria to the 2019 World Cup in China, the first team in the world to do so. The same Coach Alex achieved Africa’s best performance by beating host China at the World Cup and qualified Nigeria automatically for the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo, Japan. Since his departure, Nigeria was surprisingly 12th out of the sixteen-team 2021 FIBA Men’s Afrobasket in Rwanda.
After failing to qualify for the 2023 World Cup, FIBA introduced the Pre-Olympic Qualifiers, as a way of helping the D’Tigers and other top teams to regroup and seek redemption by competing for an Olympic slot for the 2024 Paris Olympic Games, but the cold war among board members, due to various forms of conflict of interest has contributed immensely to scuttling the hopes and aspirations of Nigerians.
As we reported earlier, the cold war or infighting in the NBBF hierarchy, was again the key reason for the mismanagement of the opportunity, granted Nigeria by FIBA who in March also announced Lagos as the host city of the eight-team tournament, which was later pruned to six, with the withdrawal of Congo DR and Uganda.
On taking the competition to the Convention Center of Eko Hotel and Suites rather than the centrally located National Stadium in Surulere, it was observed that this was another error of judgement, as many true fans of the slam and dunk game could neither afford the exorbitant ticket fees, nor the fares to even make it to the venue.
Another board member went on to caution that if the NBBF leadership continue to sideline those that are perceived as enemies of the Federation, especially players who protested against the leadership style of Mr. Kida in the past, Nigeria’s D’Tigress may also suffer same embarrassing defeat at the FIBA Olympics Qualifying Tournaments, scheduled for February 2024.
He added the fact that D’Tigress won the 2023 Afrobasket title in Kigali, even after poor preparation does not justify adopting the same lack-lustre preparation for the men’s pre-Olympic Qualifying Tournament.
“Our women, pushed on by Rena Wakama fought very hard and earned the victories as well as fourth straight Afrobasket title. However the results were aided by the fact that majority of the other teams were also in bad shape having lost some key players, notably Senegal, Mali, Mozambique, Egypt and Cameroun. More so, the team still retained some of the traditional steel, built in it by Coach Otis Hughley – players like Amy Okonkwo, Sarah Ogoke, Elizabeth Balogun, Pallas Kunaiyi and Murjanatu Musa who all played under Coach Otis Hughley, Nigeria’s former Coach.
Four days in Camp in Nigeria before heading to Kigali for D’Tigress defence of their Afrobasket title, or the chase of a record equalling four-peat, is never an way to prepare for such a major tournament.
After D’Tigers failed to qualify for the FIBA Men’s World Cup jointly to be hosted by Philippines, Japan and Indonesia in a few days and following Tuesday’s crashing out of the 2024 Paris Olympics, at the pre- qualification level, right before their home fans, it is hoped that the leadership of the NBBF will clear the air on the disconnect within the basketball family, to ensure that Coach Rena Wakama and her ladies get the optimum support they need, ahead of the Women Olympic Qualifying Tournament in 2024, if Nigeria is to have a team at the Basketball event of the Paris 2024 Olympics.
“Did the Falcons not protest against the NFF, is there anytime athletes are not protesting for one thing or the other? The fact is that any leadership must be conciliatory and have the ability to forgive and move on; there is no wisdom of sidelining our key players.
Earlier on Tuesday, the Indomitable Lions of Cameroun literarily obliterated the Syli Stars of Guinea 104-74 to sit comfortably at the top of Group B, with two points; thanks to Fabian Quentin Ateba’s 27-point display. The Central Africans will play three-time and reigning Afrobasket Champions, the Carthage Eagles of Tunisia on Wednesday.