Basketball

Nigeria Has Potentials To Win Basketball Medals At 2021 Tokyo Olympic-Olumide Oyedeji

Published

5 years ago

April 13, 2020

Former NBA star and D’Tigers captain, Olumide Oyedeji has expressed optimism that country has the potentials of winning medals at the both the men and women Basketball events at the Tokyo 2021 Olympic Games.

Olumide who remains the longest serving D’Tigers captain spoke at the popular WhatsApp Forum “FCT Football Update” also said that shifting of Olympics Games to next year is the best decision the Olympics Committee could take at that point.

Oyedeji advised the teams technical crew to ensure that they provide a better structure, organization and adequate team spirit for them to excel.

“I have no doubt that if we have a better structure and organization, we have the capability to win medals at the Olympic Games”.

“Nigeria Basketball has been growing and improving. We have players all over the world, growing and performing well. We have players all over the world. Just this year alone, we have seen five to six players with Nigerian roots that can compete at the highest level.”

“We even actually have a better chance next year at the Olympic Games than 2020. We are going to see a lot of young guys coming to fight for medals.”

“I believe the coaching crew know what they need to do. They just have to put the team together, base on what they need. We don’t need too many Stars. By the time we have too many Stars, there will be ego and attitude. We just need to have 10 solid players.”

“There is no reason why we shouldn’t have one home based player in the team. Not all the 12 players will have equal minutes.”

“We should give one home based player the opportunity to know that for you being at home in Nigeria isn’t a crime. I had the same opportunity in 1997 when I joined the Nigeria national team. Since that time my career has never been the same and we won a Medal. We can do the same and give the players back home an opportunity and belief it is not a crime to be a Nigerian Basketball League player,” he said.

The Oyo state born ex- NBA star said shifting the Olympic Games to 2021 is in the right direction, as it would give the athletes the opportunity to prepare adequately before the games next year.

“COVID-19 actually paralyzed the whole world, not only sports. As we can see people all over the world started losing their jobs, economy started getting bad , businesses shutting down everywhere and everyday. The implication of Covid 19 is bad and shifting the date of the Games is in our best interest” he concluded.

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Basketball

Senate Set to Endorse 30% Value Addition Requirement for Raw Materials

Published

2 weeks ago

May 20, 2025

The Gleamer

Joel Ajayi

The Nigerian Senate has assured Nigerians and Africans that the 30% raw materials bill would be passed this week and transmitted to the House of Representatives for concurrence.
Senate President, Sen. Godswill Akpabio gave the assurance on Tuesday at the opening ceremony of the inaugural Africa Raw Materials Summit 2025, held on Tuesday in Abuja, with the theme, “Shaping the Future of Africa’s Resource Landscape.”

Speaking through the Chairman, Senate Committee on Science and Technology, Sen. Aminu Abbas, Akpabio said, “I can assure you that the 30% value addition bill before the Senate will be passed this week and transmitted to the House Representatives for concurrence.”

Earlier in his speech, he said, “In the Nigerian Senate, we have resolved to be proactive in addressing this structural imbalance. It is in this spirit that I reaffirm our full legislative backing for the 30% Minimum Value-Addition Bill, currently under consideration. This groundbreaking bill mandates that no raw material of Nigerian origin shall be exported without undergoing a minimum of 30% local value addition—whether through processing, refining, packaging, or industrial transformation.

“This legislation is not intended to stifle trade; rather, it is designed to ignite domestic enterprise, create jobs, attract capital, and build resilient value chains that benefit our people.”

“We must reject the historic pattern in which Africa merely supplies inputs while others reap the benefits of innovation, branding, and global market control.” he added.

“It is my hope that this model will be replicated across African nations, with regional centres of excellence established to share data, technologies, and best practices in raw material development.”

He used the opportunity to call on African countries to replicate the legislation in their countries to boost their economies.

“Permit me, therefore, to echo the call for the adoption of an Abuja Declaration on Raw Materials and Industrial Transformation in Africa. Let this declaration not merely reside in summit communiqués but become a living charter—a reference for executive action, legislative alignment, and investment mobilisation.

“Let it guide our representations at the African Union, the G20, and global trade forums where Africa’s voice must no longer be that of a supplier, but that of a producer,” he said.

The Minister of Science Innovation and Technology, Chief Geoffrey Innaji, speaking through the Minister of Transport, said “We are deploying digital tools, traceability infrastructure, and research-to-industry pathways to strengthen intra-African trade under AfCFTA. This is how Africa moves from extraction to transformation—from potential to prosperity.

“Let this summit send a clear message: Africa will no longer export its future in raw form. Our minerals will power industries, our crops will feed global markets, and our youth will drive innovation,” he said.

On his part, the Minister of State for Industry, John Owen, in his speech noted that, “with African continental free trade area, I believe that a lot of opportunities are already being opened to see how we can do much more than we are currently doing, and the statistics in terms of export trade should be less in terms of exporting raw materials and more in terms of exporting finished goods.”

Commenting on the Summit, the Director General Raw Materials Research and Development Council (RMRDC), Prof. Nnanyelugo Ike-Mounso, in his speech said, “Today, in the heart of Africa, we gather not merely for a summit, but for a solemn declaration: Africa shall no longer be the warehouse of raw potential, but the workshop of refined prosperity.”

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