Nigeria’s Minister of Youth and Sports Development, Mr Sunday Dare, has described the recent impressive performance of D’Tigers as an indication that there would soon be a revolution in Nigerian basketball development.
Dare made this assertion when NBBF President, Musa Kida paid him a courtesy visit on Tuesday after returning from the just concluded AfroBasket Championship qualifiers in Kigali, Rwanda.
According to the Minister, “my position is consistent that beyond football, Nigeria has talents and competences in several other sports and our ascendancy in basketball is no longer stoppable.
“That ascendancy has been proven. We are Africa Champions in both male and female categories. We are headed to the Olympics. It has never happened before and that shows that beyond football, basketball has come to stay.
“We are Africa Champions and we are a dominant force in the world . We are happy that our team is in the hands of good administrators and managers. Beyond the good talents that we have put together, we also need capable hands to manage them.
“These are the people that have set their eyes on a greater glory on the podium performance and am sure many other Nigerians will join the basketball revolution.
“At least under my watch, we hope to have a basketball revolution that transcends the national team.
“We hope to have effective grassroots penetration of basketball youngsters to start a project that would have a basketball court in at least one senatorial district of the country. This is a commitment that is shared by the NBBF and the Federal Ministry of Sports,” concluded the minister.