Nigeria’s Sports Ministry And Its Numerous Innuendos And Half Truth

MAXWELL KUMOYE

Each passing day the ‘imaginary’ crisis rocking the basketball family in Nigeria keeps changing and twisting and the lead actors in the crisis the Sports Ministry and its Minister, Chief Sunday Akinwunmi Dare keep singing a new song every day.

The lastest lyrics from the Ogbomosho man is that they are still studying the report sent to them by who, only God knows.

Is it the report of the Seven-man Committee they are studying or the report of the NBBF Elective Congress in Benin City, Edo State, submitted by the new Nigeria Basketball Federation (NBBF) board three weeks ago?

At the weekend Chief Sunday Dare compounded the issue on the ground with a very amateur response in an interview with some journalists.

These are the key points of the interview:

1. They, that is the Sports Ministry have made enough effort to resolve the NBBF palaver.
2. There were two different elections into the board of the NBBF.
3. The Nigeria Constitution supercedes any other law or constitution.
4. The development of basketball is bigger than any individual or group of persons.

The first point made by the Sports Ministry is very clear, they have engaged the stakeholders on four different occasions with no positive outcome.

Yes, it’s true the Ministry met with the stakeholders on the crisis, but the question is was the Ministry sincere? Did they follow the right route? And what was the outcome of those meetings, committees and findings?

The answer to all these questions is simple, the Ministry in all these meetings was speaking from both sides of their mouth and they were not bold enough to carry out the recommendations of the committee they set up or the committee’s report did not sound well to their adulterated thinking.

The second point raised by the Minister in that interview is, there were two different elections into the board of the NBBF on the same day. one in Abuja and the other in Benin City.

For lack of words to qualify this submission, ‘it’s total nonsense, unreasonable and laughable too’.

Why this stand? The election in Abuja was conducted under which guide? Who oversaw the election? Who were the delegates? Did the election follow the recommendations submitted to the Sports Ministry by the Seven-man committee it set up?

Come to think of it, were the International Basketball Federation (FIBA) and the Nigeria Olympic Committee (NOC) in attendance during the sham in Abuja? Was the 2019 NBBF FIBA approved constitution followed during the so-called Abuja election?

The answer to these questions is a big fat NO.

The opposite is the case with the Benin City Elective Congress of the NBBF that produced the board led by Ahmadu Musa Kida. That board also has Babatunde Ogunade, Olumide Oyedeji and Ugo Udezue, all former Nigerian internationals with vast knowledge of the game.

Besides, the very rich composition of the new board, the election was conducted in accordance with the recommendations of the Seven-man committee, the constitution of the NBBF approved by FIBA and its representatives were in attendance during the Elective Congress that also includes the Nigeria Olympic Committee (NOC). More than two-thirds of eligible delegates were in Benin.

Interestingly, the electoral committee set up by the Congress and supported by the Sports Ministry that later shifted the elective congress from October 30th 2021 to January 31st conducted the Benin election.

So, what does the Sports Ministry want and who is Dare dancing for?

The third issue raised in Chief Sunday Dare’s interview has to do with the conflict between sovereignty and the constitution of Nigeria and the FIBA approved constitution of the NBBF.

This is so ridiculous, amateurish, uninformed and a relic of a lost age position held by the Sports Ministry and its Minister. Who forced Nigeria to join the International Basketball Federation (FIBA)? The moment you agree to join an International Sporting Body, the terms and conditions apply. You have automatically agreed to abide by their constitution and some part of it may go against your own law, but you must live by it, and so is the Nigeria Basketball Federation (NBBF) as well as the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) and so on.

Can Dare touch the constitution of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) or dare FIFA? All the 202 member Associations of FIBA must follow it’s terms and conditions, the NBBF cannot be different and the Sports Ministry and the Sports Minister, Chief Sunday Akinwunmi Dare cannot make the NBBF bigger than FIBA’s constitution.

The last but certainly not the least in Minister Dare’s submission is that the development of basketball in Nigeria is far bigger than any individual or group of persons.

As sweet as the line may sound to the ears, it’s very hypocritical coming from the Minister.

What did the Ministry and the Sports Minister do for the three and a half years when the male domestic league, the Premier Basketball League was dragged to the court and the league went dead until the last board got a favourable ruling to jump-start the league again?

The same Sports Ministry is very much aware that Nigeria has been lagging behind in men’s club basketball on the continent. They are also aware that most basketball courts owned by the Federal Government are not in the best of conditions.

The general neglect of all the national teams is well documented in our crisis-ridden history. How long did it take for the female national team, D’Tigress to get their allowances and other financial benefits? How did D’Tigress make the trip to Yaounde?

It’s very sad and unfortunate that the Sports Ministry which all the Sporting Association and Federations should run to for support and help, is helpless, ineffective and they are not ready or willing to do the needful with the NBBF.

From the Athletics Federation of Nigeria (AFN) to the Badminton Federation of Nigeria (BFN), the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) and the Nigeria Basketball Federation (NBBF), it’s the same story of a daily crisis.

Dare, we are watching and waiting for you and the Sports Ministry. Do whatever is right, needful and necessary and the slamming and dunking game will surely flourish beyond our dreams.

A word is certainly enough for the discerning mind!

.Maxwell Kumoye, a broadcaster wrote this piece from Abuja, Nigeria