NBBF confirms April 10 for Zenith Basketball League

The Nigeria Basketball Federation (NBBF) yesterday confirmed that the 2017 Zenith Bank Basketball League would dunk off on April 10 in Abuja.

The federation, which received the N35 million sponsorship fee from Zenith Bank at the bank’s headquarters in Lagos yesterday, also used the opportunity to assure the stakeholders that everything had been put in place to ensure a successful season.

Speaking after receiving the sponsorship cheque from Zenith Bank, NBBF President, Tijani Umar, thanked the sponsors for having faith in the federation, adding, “it is not very easy for a partnership to be together for so long, I really want to thank Zenith Bank for standing by us for the past 13 years till this moment. I was privileged to be a board member when it all started in 2005 and remarkably, it has been moving from strength to strength.

“In the eight years God has given me the opportunity to lead the board, it has blossomed, and today, I am part of the success story of the Zenith Bank’s sponsorship of the national women basketball league.

“When we started, we have five teams competing, but after 13 years, we now have 18 teams competing which shows how far we have gone.”

Also speaking at the event, Zenith Bank’s Deputy Managing Director, Ebenezer Onyeagwu, said contributing to the development of basketball over the years was a delight to the organization.

He added: “We take sports seriously and that is why we have been with basketball for this long period. It is a delight that many of the players have developed to represent Nigeria at international competitions and that is a success story for us.

“There have been testimonies of players discovered through the league who are now playing abroad. This has given us joy that the initiative we started from humble beginning has grown to become a very big league.”