Basketball
NIGERIA BASKETBALL FEDERATION CHIEFTAIN, OGUNADE TASKS CORPORATE ORGANIZATIONS ON SPORTS INVESTMENT
Nigeria Basketball Federation Vice President, Babatunde Ogunade has tasked Corporate Organizations in Nigeria to key into the ongoing revolution in the Nigerian basketball by investing in its further growth.
Speaking at the media parley heralding the 21st edition of the Nestle Milo Basketball Championship for Secondary schools on Thursday in Lagos, Ogunade said with the huge task of funding, infrastructure development, international participation, domestic leagues and development of talents, the NBBF needs all the support from the corporate world.
He eulogized the impact that the Nestle brand has continued to play in Nigerian sports especially basketball in the last 20 years since it started the Milo Secondary School program.
The NBBF Vice President said the program which produced the likes of Evelyn Akhator, Nkechi Akashili, Chioma Okoro Udeaja, Elo Edema Edeferioka amongst others has contributed immensely to the D’Tigress recent successes at the 2017 Afrobasket in Mali and the 2018 FIBA World Cup in Spain where the team got to the quarterfinal.
“Other Corporate organizations in Nigeria need to emulate the illustrious contributions of Nestle Milo by investing in the future of the immediate environment they operate through sports. To have been doing this for the past 20 years is not a mean feat. They must be commended.
He promised that the Technical Department of the federation will pay close attention to the 21st edition starting on the 8th of May in their quest for talent discovery for the underage National teams.
In an address by the Managing Director and Chief Executive, Nestle Nigeria PLC, Mauricio Alarcon said, “The Nestle brand has continued to enhance quality of life and contributing to a healthier future, we encourage children to be active through sports programs.”
According to Alarcon, the brand has a strong belief that sports provide opportunities for the development of qualities that set the foundation for a child’s future, which has continued to encourage them to be at the forefront of grassroots sports development in Nigeria for the past 20 years.
The Savannah conference comprising Bauchi, Adamawa, Plateau, Kano, Gombe, Jigawa, Borno, Katsina, Yobe and Taraba will begin from May 3 to 8 in Bauchi while the Central Conference made up of Benue, Kaduna, Kebbi, Kogi, Nasarawa, Niger, Sokoto, Zamfara and the FCT will play their games in Minna from May 10 to 15.
The Equatorial Conference will feature teams from Abia, Akwa Ibom, Anambra, Imo, Rivers, Cross River, Bayelsa and Ebonyi. They will play their matches in Enugu from May 17 to 22 while the Western Conference made up of Delta, Edo, Ekiti, Kwara, Lagos , Ogun, Ondo, Osun and Oyo will play in Ibadan from May 24 to 29.
The National finals hold in Lagos from July 4.
Musa Kida, the president of the Nigeria Basketball Federation (NBBF), has been appointed as a non-executive chairman of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC), the country’s apex oil company. His appointment is part of the sweeping overhaul that the Nigerian president, Bola Tinubu made in the first working day after the Sallah break.
The sacking of the board of the NNPC sees the appointment of Bashir Bayo Ojulari as the new Group Chief Executive Officer (CEO), replacing Mele Kolo Kyari. Prior to his current appointment, Kida was the Deputy Managing Director, Deep Water Services, of Total Nigeria.
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Basketball
NSC DG Bukola Olopade Congratulates NBBF Boss Musa Kida for new appointment as NNPC Chairman
The Director General of the National Sports Commission NSC, Bukola Olopade, has congratulated the President of the Nigeria Basketball Federation, NBBF, Musa Kida, for his appointment as the new Board Chairman of the Nigeria National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
Olopade said Musa Kida has been one of Nigeria’s most efficient and Productive Sports administrators who has sacrificed a lot for the growth of Nigerian Basketball.
The DG maintained that his latest appointment is a testament to his years of passion, hard work, dedication and a very successful track record in the oil sector for more than two decades.
” Musa Kida is an accomplished administrator whose achievements cut across both the oil sector and Nigerian basketball. I have no doubt that the NNPC Limited will attain better efficiency and attract more investment under his watch”.
” Under his leadership as the President of the Nigeria Basketball Federation, we have seen the steady growth of the country’s basketball and how the National teams have continued to achieve new heights.
” At the last Olympic Games in France, the Nigeria Women’s Basketball team, D’Tigress was one of the shining stories for Team Nigeria, where they set a new record by making it to the knockout phase before losing to the United States”.
” I personally know the efforts behind the scenes that kida put in for Nigeria to achieve that feat with the girls in France and the Nigerian girls have been an unrivalled team on the continent for some time now”.
The DG added that he does not doubt that Musa Kida will use his new position to further earnest the development of Nigerian Sports especially basketball especially now that there is a new focus on growing a sustainable Sports Economy.
” Whilst the Oil sector will benefit immensely from the Expertise of Musa Kida as the new Board Chairman of the NNPC Limited, Mr President, has further helped to place Nigerian Sports in a better pedestal by putting one of us in a very strategic place like the NNPC”, he concluded.
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Basketball
FIBA names Nigeria’s Agada among those who starred the most on the last day of the 2025 AfroBasket Qualifiers
The 16 teams that will be competing at this year’s FIBA AfroBasket from 12-24 August have been confirmed, with some teams securing their places on the final day of qualifying.
A quintet of individuals put in stellar performances to send their teams to this year’s African championship in style.
Teams have 169 days to prepare for the 2025 edition of the AfroBasket set to be hosted by former champions Angola, who will be chasing a record-extending 12th title.
FIBA- Africa looked at the matches and the players and featured nine players who were the stars of the final day on Sunday.
Here is FIBA’s analysis: The return of the Tokyo Olympian has been a blessing for Abdulrahman Mohammed’s Nigeria.
For the second game in a row, Agada was a thorn in their side’s side, scoring 23 points in a convincing 77-62 win over 2021 AfroBasket semifinalists Cape Verde.
The 30-year-old played just over 30 minutes and finished two rebounds shy of a double-double while adding six assists and five steals for an efficiency rating of 29.
Nigeria entered the competition after an 0-3 start, but his disruptive presence on the floor helped them to a 3-0 run to qualify, averaging 19 points, 7.7 rebounds and 6.3 assists.
The other players highlighted are: Ousmane Drame of Guinea, Karim Maneof Senegal, Childe Dundao of Angola, Siriman Kanoute of Mali, as well as Ntore Habimana (Rwanda) Aliou Fadiala Diarra (Mali) Allan Dokossi (Central African Republic)and Nisre Zouzoua (Cote d’Ivoire)
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