Basketball
Igoche Mark, Adeniyi Others Lead Stakeholders in Applauding Flyers’ Championship Feat, Set Focus on Making BAL History
By Joel Ajayi
It was an evening of celebration, pride, and renewed optimism as Nigeria’s newest basketball sensation, Mark Town Flyers, received a special reception in Abuja on Monday in honour of their stunning emergence as 2025 NBBF Champions—a feat many never saw coming.
Speaking at the event, basketball development advocate Igoche Mark described the Flyers’ victory as “history-making,” applauding their resilience and determination in overcoming overwhelming odds.
“They have done something that has never been done before. Many didn’t expect them to come this far, but they proved everyone wrong,” he said.
“I have faith in them. By the time they get to the BAL, they will make Nigeria proud and set the best record we’ve ever had.”
Mark also restated the urgent need to revive Nigeria’s traditional league structure—one that once featured home-and-away fixtures, a full-season calendar, and clear progression to the playoffs.
“We’re not asking for the moon. We only want what we used to have. Our league once ran for months with home and away games before the Final Eight. Bringing that system back is key to growing basketball in Nigeria,” he added.
“This Story Is Special”—Mark on Flyers’ RiseReflecting further, Mark said the team’s rise is proof of Nigeria’s abundant talent and the remarkable potential of young players when provided with adequate support.
“These boys came together barely a year ago and have achieved what many established teams could not. Beating the defending champions on their home court shows true grit and promise,” he noted.
Achii: “The Journey Was Hard, But the Vision Was Clear” Owner of Mark Town Flyers, Akerannan Manusseh Achii, shared the emotional and challenging journey that transformed the team—formerly Lagos Legends—into national champions.
“It was a tedious journey. I bought the team just two and a half weeks before the league started. Getting players, funding, logistics—everything was tough. But I’m grateful to God and the players,” he said.
Achii revealed that his vision took shape last year in Kigali during the Basketball Africa League (BAL) Finals.
“We were watching the BAL, and I said I wanted to be here. I didn’t even have a team then. But this year I got the opportunity, we fought hard, and now we are heading to BAL. It feels surreal,” he stated.
Preparing for BAL: “We’re Ready and Open to Sponsorships”
With BAL qualification secured, Achii highlighted that the next phase is preparation and strategic partnerships.
“We want to go all the way. We are open to sponsorships, collaborations—anything that can help this team. At this stage, we’re representing not just a state, but Nigeria,” he emphasized.
Mark echoed the need for collective support from the private sector, stakeholders, and institutions.
“Benue State Government is already doing its part. But we all need to contribute. With joint support, this team will go far in the BAL,” he said.
General Manager of NTA 24 Sports, Kayode Adeniyi, commended the team’s doggedness, saying their exceptional drive distinguished them throughout the season.
He reflected on the excitement and glamour basketball once enjoyed in Nigeria, lamenting how administrative crises dimmed the sport’s appeal. He appealed to all stakeholders to revive the game for the benefit of the nation.
“I am appealing to Nigerians and everyone interested in basketball to do everything within their reach to bring the Game back to life in this country,” he urged.
In his welcome address, respected basketball advocate Kingsley Aigbonoga emphasized that true, sustainable development of the sport hinges on deliberate investment in youth.A Night of Unity and Hope.
The event brought together former and current basketball players, journalists, administrators, friends, and well-wishers—both young and old—showing the deep-rooted passion many still hold for the sport.
From a last-minute team acquisition to becoming national champions in less than a year, Mark Town Flyers have rewritten Nigerian basketball history. As their preparation for the BAL intensifies, one message echoing across the hall remained clear:
Basketball
NBBF Elections: NSC Issues Major Policy Ruling, Halting Musa Kida’s Third-Term Bid
By Chinedum Ohanusi
The National Sports Commission (NSC) has fired a decisive and devastating salvo that has all but ended the schemings by incumbent President of the Nigeria Basketball Federation (NBBF), Engr. Musa Ahmadu Kida for a tenure elongation, and an unprecedented 3rd term for those serving in the current board.
The directive by the NSC, as widely circulated in virtually all known media outlets in the country, firmly shut the doors, against speculations of an attempt by some members of the highly divided NBBF Board, to circumvent the letter and spirit of their own constitution, which was recently fortified, in an effort to have divergent interests and stakeholders, on one page.
In a formal letter addressed to the NBBF President, Engr. Kida, the NSC made its stance unequivocally clear, by stating that “no federation president or member of a board, can seek a third term in office”.
The same letter added that, “and for the avoidance of doubt, the next NBBF elections are locked in for January 2026—not a day later”.
With that, the Commission, which apparently acted on a similar guideline released by the Nigeria Olympic Committee (NOC) has effectively closed the chapter, on any further talk of a tenure extension, or manoeuvres for an unprecedented 3rd term, for a President of the NBBF.
According to insider sources, the NSC hierarchy we understand moved quickly to silence swelling uncertainty over the federation’s electoral timetable and growing rumours that Engr. Kida who was first elected in 2017 and now in the wee weeks of his second four-year tenure, was considering stretching his stay beyond constitutional limits.
Sports Day has it on good authority that some power blocs had floated an alternative expiration date of October 2026, pointing to the August 5th inauguration by the then Sports Minister, Chief Sunday Dare, in Abuja.
But the NSC also shot that one down, by asserting that the board’s legitimacy traces back to the January 31, 2022 election in Benin City, conducted under strict FIBA supervision, and the elected officers sworn-in immediately after.
Although, Engr Kida who also assumed duties, as non-executive chairman of the NNPC Limited has not openly said he is seeking a third term in office, his body language, and unwillingness to ingite the process for the elections, which should hold in two months time.
Vice President of the NBBF, Babatunde Ogunade, who Chaired the panel that reviewed the constitution of the body, with a view to reunite the factions, has on many occasions stated that the constitution doesn’t have a place for third term and that, he was certain that Engr. Kida is not seeking an extension to his stay as the NBBF boss.
But speaking with sports journalists in Abuja, not long ago, after an event at the National Institute for Sports, the Borno-born administrator, whose popularity has fallen to an all-time low, refused to categorically deny his “inordinate ambition”, as some stakeholders have called it.
With this directive, the basketball community in Nigeria waits to see one thing—whether the NBBF will toe the constitutional line or test the resolve of the country’s highest sports authority, the NSC. Either way, the countdown to 2026 has officially begun.
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