FIBA Sports Director Urges Stakeholders To Recommit To Lift Nigeria’s Basketball

*says Nigeria can dominate Africa if…,

World’s basketball governing body, FIBA Sports Director Lubomir Kotleba has said that Nigeria has the best potential to lead the rest of Africa in basketball if all the stakeholders could rededicate themselves to the service and development of the game.

Kotleba, a retired veteran FIBA super-referee, arrived Abuja for meetings with the NBBF and Nigerian sports authorities in respect of FIBA’s ‘New Governance structure” New Competition Calendar’ and the ‘National Federations Support and Development’ Initiative, disclosed to basketball stakeholders in Abuja Sunday that Angola had hitherto benefitted from the administrative and infrastuctural advantage it had,noting that is now over with the recent organizational progress and successes recorded by Nigeria.

“Nigeria players are very skillful and also have the best possible basketball bodies . You have enormous potentials, which if properly harnessed, will make you the leading nation in Africa and with what i see today, there is no reason for you to dominate Africa,like Angola did,for the next 20 years”, he said.

“The Angolans told me that they know the potentials of Nigeria in the game but that what has been working for them is the tremendous funding support from government as against the Nigerians,” he disclosed.

He therefore admonished all the sport’s stakeholders to support the current leadership which he described as “strong and focused” in order to put Nigerian basketball where it ought to be on the continent.

Lubomir KOTLEBA – FIBA Sports Director photo credit FIBA

The FIBA Sports Director who took time to watch games of the Abuja Elite Private Secondary Schools Basketball Classics at the outdoor courts of the Abuja National Stadium also interacted with various stakeholders of the basketball family to find out how they operate and advised them on how to give their best in their areas of specialization.

Before his departure Tuesday, NBBF president, Tijjani Umar had led Mr. Kotleba on courtesy calls to the Nigeria Olympic Committee (NOC) president, Engr. Habu Gumel, his predecessor and former sports minister, Engr. Sani Ndanusa as well as the Director General of the National Sports Commission, Mallam Al-Hassan Yakmut.

The three administrators thanked him for visiting the NBBF, which they described as the reference point for sports federations in Nigeria and appealed to FIBA to support basketball in Nigeria to enable NBBF sustain the many successes it recorded in

NSC DG APPLAUDS MILO BASKETBALL TOP 50 PROGRAM

When a professional is at helm of affairs in any field it must show in the way he handles things. This is how to describe the activities of Director General National Sports Commission Al Hassan Yakmut. As early as 7:30 Wednesday morning the DG Mallam Yakmut was already at that National Stadium in Lagos to watch the Milo Top 50 Basketball Camp in session at National Institute of Sports. He commended the organizers and appreciated the quality of the program by the NBA coaches.

Director General of the NSC, Alhassan Yakmut

“It is a very good program targeted at the growth and development of basketball in the country. The players here are the ones expected to make it to the National teams”. The DG Yakmut advised the players to ensure they give their correct ages.
“You should not lie about your age. Make sure you apply those life values you were taught in camp – discipline, honesty, responsibility and team work”. The National Sports Commission said it is prepared to make its facilities available for such sports programs.

Mallam Yakmut later went to the Indoor Sports Hall to watch the female volleyball team preparing for the All Africa Games.

QUARTER-FINAL AND SEMI-FINAL PAIRINGS FOR WINNERS GOLDEN BET/LAGOS SWAN CUP 2015 ANNOUNCED

Following the conclusion of all matches in the group Stages of this years Winner Golden Bet/Lagos SWAN Cup 2015 #LagosSWANCup the Quarter-finalist have now emerged and the Quarter-Final matches promises to be interesting.

Group A Leaders Voice Of Nigeria will battle Group C Second place Qualifiers NTA, the Second match of the day will see The Nation/Sportinglife Crew face-off against A Jonathan Akpoborie inspired Supersports.

Group B Table Toppers Cool FM will trade tackles with former champions Completesports while Defending Champions Sportsday will lock horns with Sportsvision captained Deji Tinubu.

All Matches will be played at the Legacy Pitch of the National Stadium in Surulere with the first match expected to kick off at 11:00am prompt.

The Semi-Final matches will also be played immediately after the last set of Quarter-Finals matches.

Wednesday the 29th of July 2015 is observed as a “Match free day” and All members of Lagos SWAN are expected to turn up for the Lagos SWAN Annual Seminar, the Venue is the Lagos SWAN Secretariat, Time is 11am and the Theme for this year’s Seminar is “The future of our sports” and the first speaker will be the DG, National Sports Commission Mallan Al-hassan Yakmut, who will speak on “Funding sports in Nigeria”.

NFF President Amaju Pinnick will deliver a paper Titled “Globalising Nigerian sports: A challenge for the Nigerian media” this will be followed by a brief presentation by Colin Udoh on the “Effective Use Of Social Media”

A medical team will be on hand to conduct health checks and also advise Lagos SWAN Members and guest on “healthy living”

DAY 4 30/07/2015

QUARTER-FINALS AND SEMI-FINALS

QUARTER FINALS

29, VON VS RUNNER UP NTA

30, NATION/SPORTINGLIFE VS SUPERSPORT

31, COOL FM VS COMPLETESPORTS

32, SPORTSDAY VS SPORTSVISION

SEMI FINALS

33, WINNER GAME 29 VS WINNER GAME 31

34, WINNER GAME 30 VS WINNER 32

DAY 5 31/07/2015

3:00 PM – 3:45 TUG OF WAR TOURNAMENT

4:00PM LOSERS FINAL

35, LOSER GAME GAME 33 VS LOSER GAME 34

5:00PM FINAL MATCH

National Sport Commission Pledges Support for Nigerian Sport Award

The National Sports Commission (NSC) has pledged to throw its weight behind the organizers of the Nigerian Sports Award in its quest to inspire outstanding performances in Nigerian sportsmen and women through recognition and reward. The Director General, National Sport Commission, Al-Hassan Yakmut made this known in Abuja recently when he received members of the Award Panel who paid him a courtesy visit in his office.

Addressing the members of the Award Panel during the courtesy visit, Yakmut commended the effort of the organizers for remaining steadfast and committed towards the objectives of the Award, which is to reward excellence performance among Nigerian athletes.

The Director General noted that the Nigerian Sports Award could be described as the outsourced aspect of the National Sports Policy, which has provision for Reward & Incentives. He added that the Commission needs to give its maximum support to the initiative especially in line with the Public-Private Partnership drive of the government.

A Member of the Award Panel,Nigerian Sports Award, Mitchel Obi, presenting an award to the Director General, National Sports Commission, Al-Hassan Yakmut in Abuja recently.

Speaking earlier on the mission of the team to the National Sports Commission, the Chairman of the Award Panel, Ikeddy Isiguzo disclosed that the Panel was in Abuja to congratulate Yakmut on his recent appointment as the Director General and also to deepen the relationship between the Commission and the Nigerian Sports Award.

Isiguzo called for more participation and involvement of the National Sport Commission in the Nigerian Sport Award by making its presence felt during the award Gala Night ceremony which he described as the celebration of the achievements of the sports Ministry.

He used the occasion to announce to the Director General that the 2015 edition of the Nigerian Sports Award would hold at a yet to be made public date in November at the prestigious Eko Hotel & Suites, Victoria Island, Lagos.

“We want more presence from the Ministry and the reason is very obvious, whatever anybody says, the Ministry does a lot for the athletes and when we have an event of that magnitude, the presence of the Sports Ministry from the Minister of Sports to the Director General and other key office holders is very important because we are celebrating the achievement of the Ministry’’ he said.

Nigeria Sports Awards

While presenting the Nigerian Sports Award plaque to the Director General as a mark of honour, Mitchel Obi, a member of the Award Panel stated that the appointment of Yakmut is well deserved having come a long way in Nigerian sports from being a Volleyball player to an administrator.

“It is our privilege to present to you this unique award for your commitment to sports development in Nigeria and also a reflection of the vision you have for Nigerian sports and we believe that with the Nigerian Sports Award, it is a recognition for those who have excelled and those who are on the path of excellence.

A Tale of Sports, Political Gambling In Nigeria By Aderonke Ogunleye-Bello

As a great fan of country music, one of my favorite songs of Kenny Rogers is, ‘The Gambler’ some part of it read thus; You’ve got to know when to hold them, know when to walk away and know when to run, you never count your money when you are sitting at the table there will be time enough to counting when the deal is down.

Every Gambler knows, that the secret to surviving is knowing what to throw away and knowing what to keep cause every hand is a winner and every hand is a loser, the song goes on and on as they Gamble with the Fate of our Sports with the appointment of Politicians.

What is the big deal in doing the right things for the growth of Nigerian Sports, for how long will the absence of Technocrats at the helms of affairs in Sports inflict heartbreaks on Nigerians, how long? So long? Too long.!

Abuja Internaional Stadium, photo credit Jeff Attaway

Political Gamble is killing the development of Sports in the most populous country in africa and with affirmation I want to reiterate that, it is a serious issue of which, if I throw the dice and turn it around what next? I either win or lose and of course, politicians never lose, they enrich their lives and pockets, at the mercy of Nigerians, of Sports followers, of that amateur and talented athlete, they murder the future.
Most of them are clueless, their ignorance and nonchalant attitude cause more harm than good, they are self conscious because they believe their godfathers can’t remove them so far their loyalty is intact, they will make money, fame and walk away, Sports will, as usual, go back to square one as the biggest casualty

Nigerian sports keeps dwindling every time, even with the power to stir the National development, it is languishing in shambles.

Looking at the history of sports in Nigeria, the importance and its use, we all know that it is the only universal language and the only major factor that bond the already ethnic and religious-divided Nation together, why gamble with this important factor?

The biggest gambler is the Federal Government who will appoint politicians to handle Nigerian sports affairs, which in most cases resulted in our not expecting any perfect delivery. The appointment of technocrats should be prioritize, a technocrat has been called, he has studied, and also knows his way around the administration of the game and how to be in charge.

Sincerely speaking, Sports in Nigeria need restructuring and it must starts from the very top. Let’s look at this together, The Chairman/Director General of the National Sports Commission and the Minister of Sports are politicians without any cognat experience on sports administration.

What do you expect of politicians without any incline or previous experience of sports administration? Failure, woeful failure and monumental disaster. Certainly, continuation with the same old order means more heart injuries and breaks for the sports-loving citizens of this country.

Let’s look yet again, a situation where Sports administrators abandon the ministry for political campaigns with video recording is not healthy for the growth of the game.

However a former Sports Minister, Bolaji Abdullahi, although not my best of friends, during his tenure tried in his capacity to introduce new policies, still, the tenure was riddled with allegations of corruption and scandals. He was however, sacked on political ground, replaced by another politician and the circle goes on, where do we go from here.

Presently, there is a technocrat acting as the DG of the NSC, Mr. Al-Hassan Yakmut, who I have worked under his leadership that I can assure that if given an ample time will make a huge difference, why? He is a Grassroots Sports enthusiast and a tested Sports Administrator.

Enough of the gambling that has retrogressed Nigerian sports. Like in saner climes, politicians should remain in the local governments, parliament and other political positions even as aides to their fellow politicians and leave our Sports alone.

To the President-elect, my appeal is that you help the Nation appoint Technocrats with fast knowledge of policies to restore the past glory of the game in the country. I equally appeal the you evolve a monitoring mechanism that will enable us hold them accountable.

Aderonke Ogunleye-Bello
twitter @AderonkeW