Abuja: Stakeholders have blamed Nigeria’s poor performance in basketball on administrative instability, poor funding, and the absence of a professional domestic league.
According to News Agency of Nigeria, the reactions followed Nigeria’s early exit from the 2025 FIBA Men’s Afrobasket Championship in Angola, where the team finished fifth. Nigeria’s D’Tigers crashed out after a 91-75 loss to Senegal in the quarter-finals at the Pavilho Multiusos Arena in Luanda, ending their campaign with more questions than answers.
Reacting to the defeat, Igoche Mark, a basketball promoter and founder of the Mark D’Ball Championship, described the situation as ‘deeply troubling,’ citing years of poor leadership and policy inconsistency. He emphasized that basketball in Nigeria lacks structure and direction, highlighting the absence of a functional domestic league since 2017 as unacceptable. Mark urged the National Sports Commission (NSC) to intervene decisively to sanitize the system, warning that talented players are being lost to other countries due to a lack of local opportunities.
Similarly, former D’Tigers captain Olumide Oyedeji pointed out that the failure to run a viable league is weakening Nigeria’s competitiveness in Africa and globally. He stressed that success at the top level requires grassroots development and a strong domestic league, noting that Nigeria is only recycling talent instead of nurturing new stars.
The 2025 Afrobasket Championship, which ran from August 15 to 24 in Angola, featured 16 teams and served as a pathway to the 2027 FIBA Basketball World Cup qualifiers. Nigeria, once a dominant force on the continent and champions in 2015, struggled in the group stage and barely advanced before falling to a tactically superior Senegalese side.
Basketball analysts have long pointed to the leadership tussles that have plagued the Nigeria Basketball Federation (NBBF) over the past decades as a source of systemic issues. Sports development consultant Tunde Popoola remarked that Nigeria’s basketball infrastructure has failed to keep pace with international standards, while other countries like South Sudan, Rwanda, and Cape Verde are investing in their leagues and seeing results.
Meanwhile, fans and former players have taken to social media to express disappointment over the team’s performance, demanding accountability from sports authorities. As calls grow louder for reforms, stakeholders agree that only a clear roadmap, led by competent leadership and supported by government policy, can revive the sport.
