Basketball
BASKETBALL WORLD CUP QUALIFIERS: NWAIWU, ABUCHI TO REPLACE OBEKPA AND NWAMU
Rivers Hoopers player Buchi Nwaiwu and Ibe Abuchi Agu of Gombe Bulls have been invited to D’Tigers National team as replacements for Ike Nwamu and Christopher Obekpa.
D’Tigers
camp officially opens on Tuesday, 19th of February in Abidjan for the last
window of the 2019 FIBA World Cup qualifiers.
Nwamu and Obekpa will be absent due to club commitments and administrative reasons.
According to the Team’s General Manager, Musa Adamu, Nwamu whose National team debut was at the 2017 FIBA Afrobasket for men in Tunisia just got traded from Wisconsin Herd to Indiana Pacers franchise and so he needed time to settle in.
“Nwamu could not make it. He has just been traded from his club to Indiana Pacers, so he cannot afford to leave immediately.”
The team manager of the high flying D’Tigers who are on a 9-game unbeaten streak said the inclusion of Buchi and Ibe Abuchi was based on their outstanding performances in 2018.
“Buchi Nwaiwu was the Most Valuable Player of the FIBA Zone 3 club Championship in Cotonou where he helped his club (Rivers Hoopers of Port Harcourt) qualify for the maiden edition of the FIBA Afro League. He played very well and he was the most valuable player and the highest scorer.”
“Ibe too was the MVP of the invitational championship played in Kano last year and also put up a good show at the National Sports Festival. Their performances never went unnoticed”, Adamu said.
Having qualified for the World Cup holding later this year in China, Nigeria will hope to finish the qualifiers with their unbeaten record intact when they face host- Côte d’Ivoire on the 22nd of February.
The team will battle Central Africa Republic on the 23rd while it will be the clash of two basketball powerhouses in Africa when Nigeria meets Senegal on the 24th.
Nigeria who became the first country in the world to book its ticket to China defeated Senegal on Sunday, 16th of September 2018 by 81-61 (27-12, 22-17, 17-18, 23-12) with Ike Diogu weighing in with 17points and 9 rebounds.
The fifth edition of the Dr & Dr (Mrs.) D.K. Olukoya Women’s Basketball Competition is set to take place in Lagos on July 14 and 15, 2025, with eight of Nigeria’s top women’s basketball teams battling for honours in the two-day tournament.
The competition, held annually in celebration of the joint birthday of Mountain of Fire and Miracles Ministries (MFM) General Overseer, Dr. Daniel Olukoya, and his wife, Dr. (Mrs.) Folashade Olukoya, continues to grow in prestige and importance on the Nigerian basketball calendar.
Speaking ahead of the event, Chairman of the Main Organising Committee, Godwin Enakhena, acknowledged the logistical challenges encountered in planning this year’s edition due to scheduling conflicts at the National Stadium’s indoor sports hall in Lagos—the tournament’s usual venue.
“Putting together the 2025 edition has been a bit challenging because of the congested calendar at the stadium, but we are determined not to disappoint the teams that have been looking forward to it,” Enakhena said. “We’ve secured two days, and we’ll make the most of the opportunity.”
Enakhena, who is also the Director of Sports at MFM, said the timing of the tournament is ideal for teams preparing for the new Nigeria Basketball Federation (NBBF) Women’s Premier League season.
“Several teams participating in the league reached out and pleaded for the competition to hold, as it offers a valuable platform to fine-tune preparations ahead of the first phase of the NBBF Women’s League, which begins at the end of July,” he added.
The Dr & Dr (Mrs.) D.K. Olukoya Women’s Basketball Tournament has become a key fixture in supporting and promoting women’s basketball in Nigeria, while also serving as a birthday tribute to two of MFM’s most influential figures.
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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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