Basketball

NBBF banks on FG’s support for FIBA World Cup campaign

Published

6 years ago

August 25, 2019

NBBF banks on FG’s support for FIBA World Cup campaign

Joel Ajayi

Less the 6 days to the FIBA Men’s World Cup in China, the Nigeria Basketball Federation is optimistic about government’s support for the D’Tigers team already in China.

Speaking to journalists in Abuja after the presentation of the 2019 FIBA Women’s Afrobasket trophy to the newly appointed Honorable Minister of Sports Sunday Dare, the NBBF President Engr Musa Kida said the boys are focused on the task ahead.

“The fact that the men have already gone to China is a very good sign that they are now confident just like I am confident as the NBBF President that we are going to get some help from government.”

Although he admitted that the task of prosecuting the 2019 FIBA World Cup is daunting, Kida said that the NBBF is focused on forging ahead and achieving results that Nigerians will be proud of.

“I think I will just put it to rest at this time that we will just forge ahead. We will keep our eyes on the ball and make sure we play well.”

On what the federation is doing to internally generate funds for its programs and the National teams, Kida said, “We are so far flaunting our results and we do have entreaties from more than 2 sponsors who are saying they will come to us.”

He lamented the sponsorship culture in Nigeria which has continued to make it difficult for the NBBF to attract the sponsorship backing from corporate organizations despite the strings of successes recorded since the board took over in 2017.

“I think the general culture of sponsorship in the country needs to be remodified and needs to be reformatted so as to encourage those who really sponsor and see value in sponsorship”, Kida said.

Nigeria will face Argentina, Russia and Korea in Group B.

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Basketball

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

Published

3 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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