Basketball
NBBF LEAGUE DIRECTOR HAILS KWESE PROSPECT CAMP
The inaugural edition of the Nigeria Basketball Federation, NBBF Kwese Prospect Camp which was concluded in Kaduna at the weekend with 65 players from across the country participating has been declared a huge success.
The Kwese Premier League Director, Ajibarede Bello, said the intensive three-day exercise achieved its aims of identifying future prospects players for the Kwese Premier League and the national teams.
“The camp which is a developmental process has been a huge success. The players discovered would be monitored and built into future stars,” Bello said, adding that, “coaches were invited to watch and select players that they could recruit into their teams.”
At the end of the camp, five players were selected as the best and presented plaques for their skill. They are Ebuka Ifeanyi, Lawson Ominini, Odufuwa Kanyisola, Musa Yusuf and Richard Daniel who national team coach, Scott Nnaji said coaches would “build up and know what will help them move forward and also introduce new things that will help them get it right.”
Coach Nnaji added that “We are going to train them to so that we can have players in every part of the country,” to buttress Mr Bello’s statement that “We are going to make it a regular basis and will be going to different venues across the country to hold it.”
Coach Mike Akuboh, one of the instructors at the camp expressed joy at the quality of players who took part in the exercise, explaining that by taking them through the rudiments of the game and preparing them psychologically, the youngsters may just be on their way to becoming world stars that will be reckoned with.
“I am impressed by the quality of players at this camp. I am particularly impressed by one of them by name Ade who is already exhibiting traits of a big winner. He will in no distant time, rule the world of basketball,” he added.
One of the Top five players, Ebuka Ifeanyi from Lagos expressed optimism that he will do better in the game to be recruited to play in the league.
“I want to get better in the game both body wise and mentally and see myself play in the Kwese League,” he opined.
The camp tagged, ‘Kwese Prospect Camp’, is a youth development initiative of the Tijjani Umar-led NBBF and is targeted at grassroots basketball players 19-year old and below.
By Ugo Okeiyi, Enugu
The end-of-year Ozobz Elite Basketball Invitational Tournament, tagged “Championing the Youth Through Sports, Education and Opportunity,” has taken off and will be concluded on Friday. The three-day event is taking place at the Indoor Sports Multipurpose Gymnasium, Nnamdi Azikiwe Stadium, Enugu.
The grassroots basketball competition is designed to serve as a platform for discovering and nurturing the next generation of Nigerian basketball talent.
A total of 14 teams — eight male and six female sides drawn from across the country — are competing for honours in what promises to be an exciting three-day basketball spectacle.
The tournament is powered by the Anthony Ozubuekwe Foundation, in collaboration with the Enugu State Ministry for Youth and Sports Development and the Enugu State Basketball Association.
Organisers say fans should expect high-quality action, with displays of skill, athleticism and tactical awareness from some of the most promising young players in the country.
According to the organisers, the initiative is structured to positively engage young people, steering them away from social vices and criminal tendencies, while using sports as a tool for education, personal development and opportunity creation.
They added that the tournament will also give coaches and team officials a valuable opportunity to assess the mental readiness, discipline and competitive mindset of the players, while providing a conducive environment for athletes to interact, bond and learn from one another.
The competition will be played in a round-robin format, with attractive prize money on offer. In the men’s category, the champions will receive ₦2 million and a giant trophy, while the runners-up will earn ₦1.5 million.
In the women’s category, the winning team will go home with ₦1.5 million, while the second-placed team will receive ₦750,000.
With its blend of competition, youth empowerment and community development, the Ozobz Elite Basketball Invitational is expected to be one of the standout grassroots sports events of the year in Enugu State.
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Former head coach of Nigeria’s men’s basketball team, Alex Nwora, will join family, friends and well-wishers on December 28, 2025, to celebrate the 90th birthday of his father, Chief Charles Okwudi Nworah, in Onitsha, Anambra State.
The milestone celebration, according to Evelyn Childs, Public Relations Officer of the US-based Imo Women Elite Club (IWEC), will take place at the expansive Onitsha compound of the nonagenarian, who is highly regarded in his community.
Born on April 17, 1936, to Akudo and Agnes Nwora of the Okakwu family in Ogbedogwu Village, Onitsha, Chief Nworah’s early years reflected strong family values rooted in education and public service. He attended St. Mary’s Catholic School before moving on to Prince Commercial College, and later completed his secondary education at Baptist High School, Osogbo, in Osun State.
Chief Nworah began his career in the civil service at a young age with the Post and Telecommunications Service (P&T), where his father also served and retired as a senior manager. His professional journey continued seamlessly into Nigerian Telecommunications Limited (NITEL) following the merger of P&T with the Nigerian External Telecommunications.
Alex Nwora, who led D’Tigers through notable periods of growth and international competition, is expected to play a central role in the celebration, which will bring together members of the extended Nwora family and the Onitsha community to honour the life and legacy of the elder statesman.
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President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has conferred national honours on all members of Nigeria’s women’s basketball team, D’Tigress, in recognition of their historic victory at the 2025 FIBA Women’s AfroBasket Championship in Côte d’Ivoire.
Each member of the team was decorated with the Officer of the Order of the Niger (OON) title at a special reception held on Monday at the Presidential Villa in Abuja. Representing the president at the event was Vice President Kashim Shettima, who announced a series of generous rewards for the champions.
In addition to the national honours, each player will receive $100,000, while each member of the technical crew will be given $50,000. The government also pledged a flat in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) to every player and official on the squad.
The rewards follow D’Tigress’s emphatic 78-64 win over Mali in Sunday’s AfroBasket final, played at the Palais des Sports de Treichville in Abidjan. The victory marked Nigeria’s fifth consecutive AfroBasket title, a feat unmatched in the tournament’s history. With the triumph, D’Tigress also secured an automatic berth to the 2026 FIBA Women’s Basketball World Cup in Berlin, Germany.
President Tinubu, in his remarks delivered by Vice President Shettima, hailed the team’s resilience, determination, and consistency, describing their dominance on the continental stage as a symbol of national pride and inspiration to the youth.
Present at the reception were First Lady Senator Oluremi Tinubu, Femi Gbajabiamila, Chief of Staff to the President, Garba Maidoki, Chairman of the Senate Committee on Youths and Sports Development, and Kabiru Amadou, Chairman of the House Committee on Sports.
The honours and incentives underscore the government’s renewed commitment to recognising excellence in sports and motivating future champions.
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