Nigeria will become a better sporting nation if the country has a system that ensures the maintenance of its infrastructure, co-founder of the Giants of Africa, Masai Ujiri, has said.

Calling on the various levels of government and institutions to pay greater attention to the maintenance of public facilities, Ujiri, who is the president and alternate governor of the Dallas Mavericks basketball franchise, said more attention should be paid to keeping the facilities in good shape rather than building new ones and then leaving them poorly maintained.

Speaking at the launch of the 50th basketball court under the Giants of Africa (GOA) “Built Within” initiative on Monday at King’s College, Lagos, the former Toronto Raptors president described the occasion as a moment of fulfilment in the organisation’s journey to empower young Africans through basketball.

Ujiri said: “It’s a thing of joy and fulfilment to have the 50th court in our mission of providing 100 courts around Africa. The Giants of Africa is also happy to have this court situated within this historic school, King’s College Lagos.

“However, I must state emphatically that the structure of this prestigious school is nothing to write home about. A modern basketball facility does not sync with the structures I have seen here today.

“I therefore challenge those saddled with the administration of the school and government to do something urgent to uplift the school. We all understand that this is one of the oldest schools in Lagos with old structures, but we need to modernise them to conform to a modern basketball facility like what we have launched today.”

The NBA trophy winner with the Toronto Raptors has spoken about facilities maintenance in Nigeria at every given opportunity. For the past decade, Ujiri has called on the authorities to fix the National Stadium in Lagos. The iconic national facility has not hosted an event in more than 10 years.

Masai added, “These buildings (King’s College) are well built. What they simply need are facelifts, and this applies to many facilities in Nigeria.

“How can the National Stadium be in a state of disrepair for years now? We are Nigerians and the biggest country in the Black race, and we must show leadership in all areas. When Nigeria moves well, other African countries will move well too. Sport is a big business, and we must treat it that way.”