President Muhammadu Buhari on Thursday approved the immediate return of Nigeria to international basketball.
The approval was granted following a letter of appeal dated June 17, 2022, which was signed by Musa Kida, leader of the Nigeria Basketball Federation (NBBF) board and addressed to the Hon. Minister of Youth and Sports Development Chief Sunday Dare.
The Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Youth and Sports Development, Ismaila Abubakar, disclosed this at a news conference in Abuja. He said the letter, among other things apologised to the President and the Minister over the embarrassment the developments around basketball and the conduct of some stakeholders has brought upon Nigeria.
Abubakar also said, “The letter appealed to the Minister to use his good offices to approach President Buhari for the reversal of the 2-year withdrawal of Nigeria from international basket ball competitions.
The Appeal letter also critically gave some key undertakings: to immediately set in motion the process of status review or constitutional amendments from stakeholders as collated by the Ministry of Youth and Sports Development, to set up a high powered team to reconcile all contending parties in the basket ball family at home and abroad, and a commitment to work with the Ministry in the governance and development of basketball among other things.”
He said President Muhammadu Buhari has mandated the ministry to ensure the implementation of the undertakings by the NBBF and “report back to Mr. President on progress”. Before the reversal of the ban, FIBA had replaced the D’Tigress with Mali ahead of the FIBA Women’s World Cup to be held later in the year.
.
click below to see video
