For nearly a decade, a lingering leadership crisis held down Nigerian basketball, hampering the growth of the game once touted as capable of challenging football’s position as the country’s number one sport. CHRISTIAN OKPARA writes that the game would continue to slumber until the federal government and stakeholders treat issues dispassionately without pandering to the whims of any group or persons.

For years, basketball has been gasping for breath, having been seized by the jugular by unending leadership crisis that has decimated its enormous fortunes.

Unfortunately, there appears to be no end in sight to the untoward activities of these power-mongering key stakeholders of the basketball fraternity, who have vowed to make the game comatose if they are not in the commanding heights.

In nearly eight years, these power-seeking stakeholders have deliberately ensured that the game is stunted just to prove their selfish point that without them in the saddle, all cannot be well with the sport.

Consequently, as the sport struggles to breathe, Nigeria, which has the potential to be among the five best basketball-playing nations in the world, has been reduced to posting disappointing and lack-lustre performances in international competitions.

Indeed, even with some of the best players of the game, the country has failed to inspire confidence in international competitions. As the height of the leadership crisis, the country’s men’s national team, D’Tigers, which was once ranked among the best 10 teams in the world, found it difficult to qualify for world championships.

As some of the world’s best players of the game turned their backs on their country because of the lingering leadership impasse, the D’Tigers failed to qualify for the last Olympic Games, in Paris even when the qualifiers were held in Nigeria. The team only managed to qualify for the last leg of the AfroBasket Championship, a competition that the country dominated less than 10 years ago.

So, how did this journey down the slope begin for Nigerian basketball?
The leadership crisis that is bogging down the sport is cyclical in nature, as it rears its ugly head after every election into the board of the Nigeria Basketball Federation.

This epic tussle for power reached a new high during the tenure of the Tijani Umar-led board, which lasted from 2008 to 2016. During this era, the NBBF broke into two major factions, and almost every decision taken by the board was subjected to fierce criticism by the opposition camp, which comprised the incumbent NBBF President, Musa Kida, the proprietor of Dodan Warriors Basketball Club, Col Sam Ahmedu (Retd), and FIBA Africa top official and current vice president of the NBBF, Babs Ogunade, among others.

Since the Umar camp also resisted stiffly any attempt by the opposition to counter or critique its actions and inaction, the NBBF politics became so toxic that at the NBBF’s 2017 Annual General Meeting, some of the stakeholders, including the President, FIBA Africa Zone 3, Col Sam Ahmedu (Retd), the late proprietor of Dolphins Basketball Club, Wale Aboderin; the Chairman, Lagos State Basketball Association, Babs Ogunade, and others, were ostracised by the board.

According to some of the arrowheads, one of the major reasons why the opposition waged a sustained wag against Umar was to thwart his alleged plan to stay in office for a third term.

The sustained opposition was, however, successful as it led to Umar exit alongside some of his followers, while his then “enemy,” Musa Kida, emerged as the new president in an election that was conducted by then Sports Minister, Solomon Dalung.

Although the Umar group held its factional election simultaneously in Kano, claiming that it had the right delegates and electoral committee, Dalung’s support for Kida effectively ended Umar’s tenure as NBBF president.

But despite losing out of the power struggle, Umar held on to the league, which was boycotted by those in Kida’s camp, while Kida organised the President Cup, which served as the league and Nigeria’s qualifying competition for major continental championships.

After months of litigation and interventions from the Federation of International Basketball Association (FIBA) and the Nigerian Olympics Committee (NOC), FIBA officially recognised the Kida-led group.

The recognition by FIBA is now seen by many as the beginning of basketball development in Nigeria even though that is not the true position of things. Although the NBBF ultimately succeeded in galvanising the national teams, leading to the D’Tigress’ victory at the 2017 Afrobasket in Mali and the D’Tigers’ silver medal outing at the men’s championship in Tunisia in the same year, signs abounded that it was just a matter of time before the NBBF imploded again.

In 2018, D’Tigress participated in the FIBA World Cup in Spain and finished as the best African team on the global stage after a quarterfinal loss to eventual winners, the United States.

However, with the gradual return of international glory notwithstanding, all was still not well domestically with the sport, especially with the near-total abandonment of domestic basketball competitions.

Along the line, however, things gradually picked up domestically with a revamped Men’s Division 1 League, Men’s Division 2 leagues, the Women’s League, and the President Cup (a replacement for Men’s Premier League).

But the country’s over-commitment to international engagements soon took a serious toll on league basketball. A short while ago, some stakeholders, including board members, claimed they were being neglected by the new president (Kida) and his close allies in the game.

Some of these board members also claimed that the last time a stakeholders’ meeting or AGM was held was in 2022, in Benin City, and this was for the election from which Kida and his board gained their second term mandate.

The peeved stakeholders claim that beyond the fact that failure to call for a congress as mandated by the constitution is an impeachable offence, the total neglect of stakeholders has led to a fresh wave of guerilla attacks within the basketball family as people now resort to social media to vent their anger.

Presently, some of these stakeholders are at daggers drawn, waiting for Kida to announce his alleged bid for a third term in office, insisting that Kida cannot be eyeing a third term, which he fought tirelessly to stop Umar from having. The affected stakeholders have started mobilising eligible voters to stop “Kida or any of his stooges” from succeeding him.

Oni Afolabi, who was NBBF’s spokesman until recently, said the problem with the game is that many stakeholders fail to respect the federation’s constitution when it doesn’t suit their purpose.

Afolabi, who left the NBBF when he could no longer align with the way the board was moving, said that the only way to end the crisis of the past seven years is for both the National Sports Commission (NSC), and the Nigerian Olympics Committee (NOC) to respect the federation’s constitution and resist any attempt at tenure elongation.

“We cannot rule out attempts by the present NBBF board to patronise the NSC, but this is just an attempt to smuggle in their third term agenda.

“Beyond their supervisory roles, the NSC and NOC must allow basketball stakeholders pick whom they desire to lead the next NBBF board. They should not waste their time in trying to settle warring parties; they should leave that task to the new board. A popular candidate, duly elected by the people, will have no difficulty in bringing all serious stakeholders under the same umbrella.

“If the NSC attempts to become partisan, peace within the basketball family will continue to be elusive.” Prominent basketball promoter and advocate for sports development in Nigeria, Igoche Mark, who ran a parallel board after the 2022 election that returned Kida as NBBF president, ascribed the current crisis “largely to a lack of commitment from the federal government, which oversees all sports federations in Nigeria.” He added that several other key issues contribute to the disaffection among stakeholders.

Chief among the factors, according to Mark, is self-interest and greed because “a small group of individuals has positioned itself to maintain control over the NBBF, often manipulating the federation’s constitution to secure its hold on power indefinitely. This self-serving behaviour undermines the democratic process and stifles new leadership.”

Mark said that the dysfunction within the NBBF has adversely affected the development of grassroots basketball, which, he noted, is the bedrock of basketball development in any country.

“Sadly, the leadership crisis has affected this very fabric of the sport. There has not been any meaningful programme and clear-cut leadership direction regarding talent identification and training.

He admitted that “the crisis has a detrimental effect on the domestic basketball league. Since 2017, the league has been non-functional, leaving players without a platform to showcase their talents. Many have sought alternative opportunities, while a select few have ventured into neighbouring countries like Togo and the Benin Republic to participate in league activities.”

Mark regretted that the NBBF leadership has suffered from inadequate governance structures, saying: “There are unclear or insufficient constitutional provisions, policies, and procedures that guide leadership and decision-making processes. This lack of clarity contributes to the ongoing instability within the federation.

“Additionally, governmental influence often exacerbates the leadership crisis, as officials may impose their friends and associates on key positions within the NBBF, further entrenching poor leadership practices.”

To restore sanity, Mark said the federal government must actively engage with all stakeholders, including members, sponsors, and government agencies, to gain insights into their concerns and expectations.

“Secondly, we must conduct a thorough review and update of the NBBF’s constitution to ensure it is clear, comprehensive, and aligned with best governance practices and the stakeholders’ best interests.

“We must also entrench a transparent and merit-based process for selecting leaders, ensuring that the most qualified candidates are elected to key positions.”

A former Ondo State Basketball Association Chairman, Segun Ikuesan, blames the lingering leadership crisis on the intervention of two former sports ministers, who scuttled stakeholders’ bid to elect their officials.

“We know who is in the basketball family, and how to resolve our issues when they crop up. However, when people are backed by government apparatus to usurp leadership, stakeholders are bound to resist that, stoking crisis.

“The NBBF can be united and resolute if there is truth and sincerity of purpose on the part of all stakeholders because we are all one.” Dismissing the allegations that Kida is running a one-man show and is also planning to seek a third term in office, Akeem Busari, a close associate of the federation’s president, who was recently appointed as chairman of Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) Ltd., said that “Kida won’t respond to such baseless and senseless issues. These talks are pedestrian and petty.”

He said that the federal government was going on with its programmes, which would culminate in the NBBF AGM, Awards Night and lastly, the NBBF Board Meeting in December.

However, a stakeholder, Pius Ayinor, says that contrary to what anybody may say, there are issues that must be resolved for the game to move forward. Ayinor, a former NBBF media officer, said that the problem borders on leadership style of the board, and unmet expectations of some stakeholders, who believe that things are not being done the right way.

He said: “A group, with Col. Sam Ahmedu (rtd) as the face, believes that Musa Kida is not running an open show for every member. They said he’s working with a few people in a totalitarian manner. They sit and discuss things they implement without seeking other board members’ input. They also believe Kida is acting like a sole administrator running his own private business.

“On the other hand, the Kida faction are saying that Col. Ahmedu is complaining because he no longer gets things done his own way. They accuse him of complaining because certain things have been taken out of his control.

“For instance, they accuse him of complaining because he was not allowed to bring in his coach the way he did in the past. Besides seeing him as a rebellious person, they allege that he opposed the appointment of Rena Wakama as D’Tigress’ coach and only sheathed his sword because the lady was doing well.

“In all these, the game is suffering because a house divided cannot prosper. This state of affairs has not helped the game, but if they come together, the game will benefit from their expertise, reach and influence because, collectively, they will make the NBBF stronger.

“Our league ought to be better than it is now but we don’t really have a league because people are not coming together to proffer solutions to the problems.

“These are people who have been friends from university days, fought together against ‘oppression’ but are now fighting against themselves. The issues can be resolved easily.

“The other serious problem is that sponsors are shying away because no company wants to associate its brand with such negative things that are happening in the NBBF.”