Basketball

Basketball Premier League will return Next Month-NBBF

Published

5 years ago

August 19, 2021

Caretaker Committee Chairman of the Nigeria Basketball Federation, Engineer Ahmadu Musa Kida, has expressed optimism that the Nigeria Basketball Premier League will return to action in September .

Kida, who dropped the hint while answering questions as the Guest on the FCT Football Update Personality Interview Segment said they are working very hard to ensure that the League returns in September. He said that the Federation will pull its resources together to ensure the commencement of the League while establishing contacts with identified sponsors, many of whom got fatigued due to the past unfolding events in the Federation.

“we are very determined that we are going to have a Premier League competition this year. So I am really very happy to announce to you that we have already written letters to the clubs, and in that light, despite the fact that we don’t have a sponsor yet , we are going to dig into personal means in terms of hosting the Premier League for this year, starting with the conference eliminations on September 7. By beginning of October, we’ll be able to conclude with the finals in Lagos. With that we’ll be able to have a league champion that can represent Nigeria, in the continental FIBA Africa, tournament.”

Speaking on the efforts made to improve basketball at the local level, Kida said: for the first time in the history of basketball in the country, we had a title sponsorship for the Divisions One and Two Leagues, which were religiously carried out every year. We had an initial sponsorship by Total for two years running, 2018/2019 following the achievements made by the Federation and then signed off for another five years, which is unprecedented. While noting that the Div Two could easily key into the youth programme of the Federation’s Developmental programmes”.

” For me, that’s one of the huge achievements of the Federation though it did not accessed the media visibility it deserves. The Federation have also conducted training for referees, table officials and games supervisors and maintained it regularly on its calendar and that has produced officials that can be relied upon without the need for officials from other countries for international tournaments. Clinics and Media seminars were also organized for our journalists on the best way to reporting the game of basketball”.

Kida insisted that in major international competitions like the Olympics and World Basketball Championship, every country appears with their best, and that there is nothing special if Nigeria attended such events with players based in diaspora “there is no mistake there, so there is nothing to correct. What is there and I will also be very direct is that, at that level of play, what we want is for Nigeria to put its best foot forward. My quest as the NBBF president, is to look for the best Nigerians that I can find globally to represent Nigeria in the best way. My intention is to have the poll-up syndrome where the local based players will aspire to play above the Nigerian Premier League and play in the professional leagues in Europe and the NBA and hoping that in the next few years when we’re able to develop, we would have a league within the country that would be compared with those abroad and we would retain all our athletes in the country.” Kida said.

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Basketball

Fresh Ideas, Science Needed to Revitalise Basketball —ABA

Published

6 days ago

September 27, 2026

The Gleamer

Cyril Ogar

President/Founder, Amateur Basketball Academies, ABA, Aliyu Lucky Abubakar has called for a scientific and pragmatic approach to rediscovering the game of basketball in the North East.

The former player of many teams in Nigeria stated this on Saturday during training of coaches in Yola, Adamawa State.

Aliyu said the training is aimed to arm Coaches so they can, in turn, reach the children, especially those that ABA may not. The Deputy Comptroller in Nigeria Customs Service decried non-challant attitudes of the stakeholders in the development of basketball in the North East.

” Basketball is fading in the North East, and we at ABA will not allow it to die.”

“Adamawa was once a force in the game of basketball but had fallen behind. Our plan is to discover talent through coaching training, nurture it, and carry it from state level to the national team, and eventually, the global stage.” The basketball administrator said.

In his keynote message to the participants, which centered on the theme, “HOPE,” Harnessing opportunity, Organising for excellence, Promoting players’ development, and Empowering the next generation, Aliyu said, is far more than a drill instructors.

” Every child you see on a basketball court has a dream, and it is our job as a coach to spot it early and give it somewhere to go.” He concluded.

In his lecture titled, ” Who is a Coach”, Emmanuel Odah, the head Coach, FCT Basketball and former National Juniors team, described a coach as a committed, organised, affectionate, caring and humble.

” Commitment is consistency, and consistency is mother of progress; humility comes first because a coach who can not control himself can never control a game,” Odah insisted.

Other instructors at the training include ABA head of technical, Coach Adeka Daudu, as well as Coach Alexander Anyebe Ujoh, who spoke about the relationship between a coach and child in his care.

Coaches at the training commended ABA for its boldness to give hopes to basketball coaches all over the country. They promised that lessons learned would reshape and reset their mind on the job. They said the training will help them in understanding their role not only as an instructor but also grooming the children for a better future.

Among guests at the event include FCT Acting Director of Sports, Mr. Iyiola Ogundele and Bayelsa Veteran Basketball administrator, Coach Tony

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