Nigeria is a nation teeming with untapped potential where you don’t have to jump through hoops to find talent in any human endeavour. This is especially true in sports, basketball being an example. Basketball was introduced to Nigeria between the late 1950s and early 1960s, arguably by early missionaries, with the military playing a key role in basketball’s initiation and its integration as a favourite pastime among the nation’s youth. It was one of the first exotic sports brought to the Nigerian scene, quickly and easily becoming the second most played sport after football.
In recent years, basketball has gained popularity in Nigeria, with more young people engaging in the game from an early age. However, the nation’s failure to leverage and capitalise on this growing enthusiasm is precisely why its potential remains untapped.
The military and police force were instrumental in the sport’s early development. The earliest barracks, with soldiers and police officers trained by Americans and Europeans, were introduced to the game through this interaction, building basketball courts and forming teams for recreation. Eventually, the sport spread to the world outside the barracks to secondary schools, tertiary institutions and the general populace.
This spread birthed associations that structured gameplay and organised competitions among schools and teams—associations such as the Nigeria Basketball Federation and the Nigeria Premier Basketball League with its two conferences are some of the most notable.
The famous Joe Garba, who played for the national team and The Scorpions from 1964 until he transitioned into an administrative role in 1970, is an unforgettable actor in the Nigerian basketball story. He was a product of the previously mentioned interaction, as he was an enlisted officer in the Nigerian Army. Garba’s contributions earned him the title “Father of Nigerian Basketball” due to his significant impact on the sport’s growth in the country.
The expansion of basketball into secondary schools and tertiary institutions, also among Nigerian youths was remarkable. The early 1960s saw inter-school basketball competitions organized by regional sports councils in Lagos, Ibadan, and Kaduna. By 1963, the Nigeria Basketball Federation (NBBF) was established to oversee the sport’s growth and participation in international competitions. The Nigeria national basketball team (D’Tigers) was officially formed in 1964 and marked Nigeria’s debut in international basketball competitions, participating in the FIBA Africa Championship that same year. The first National Basketball Championship was also held in Lagos that same year.
In Nigeria today, several prestigious basketball competitions are organised for secondary schools and sponsored by various organizations, such as the MILO Secondary School Basketball Championship, the AISEN Basketball Competition, and the Doregos Inter-School Basketball Competition, among others.
On the tertiary education front, we have the Nigerian University Games Association (NUGA) Basketball Tournament and the Nigeria Private University Games Association (NPUGA) Basketball Competition. While neither event is exclusively dedicated to basketball, the sport remains one of the key competitions they organize.
Although basketball is a long way from attaining the ubiquity of football the most dominant sport in Nigeria, its appreciation is steadily growing within Nigerian communities. This growth can be attributed to several factors, such as increased grassroots initiatives like the FIBA Africa Zone 3 Academies Tournament and the Barbara Atinuke Harper (B.A.H) Basketball Dream Team Initiative, the rising international success of Nigerian players, and increased media coverage.
However, basketball’s development remains significantly slower than that of football, which as previously mentioned is the most dominant sport in Nigeria indirectly stifling interest in the sport in more ways than one as a result. An example is when secondary schools in Nigeria are faced with the choice between constructing a basketball or football field, the decision is so obvious that even a blind man could see the outcome.
The sport also faces numerous challenges such as limited infrastructure, a lack of professional pathways, and insufficient sponsorship and funding opportunities. The Nigerian government has also not been so helpful, resulting in the sport lacking on several fronts and in numerous capacities.
Although the sport has made significant progress since its early days, its growth still falls short of candid expectations by enthusiasts. The discrepancy between current reality and projections is hardly surprising, given the Nigerian factor.
The Nigerian factor is an umbrella term for systemic issues affecting nearly every sector in the country. In the case of basketball, these challenges include leadership and governance crises, political interference in sports administration, mismanagement of funds, and corruption, to name a few.
A clear example of this occurred in 2022 when there was a fierce leadership tussle for the position of president of the Nigeria Basketball Federation (NBBF). Two factions emerged, each presenting its candidate and interpreting the federation’s constitution differently. On the surface, such electoral competition might seem normal. However, the twist was that two parallel elections were conducted, leading to the emergence of two different presidents for the same position in the same federation.
The Musa Kida-led board was ultimately recognized by FIBA (International Basketball Federation), while the Mark Igoche-led faction was recognized by the Nigerian Basketball Stakeholders. Both candidates ran unopposed in their respective elections.
Three years later, at the time of writing this article, the answer to the question of who the president of the Nigeria Basketball Federation (NBBF) is, largely depends on whom you ask, showcasing the almost comical dysfunction within the system.
The consequences of this power struggle were severe. The Nigerian women’s basketball team, D’Tigress, was forced to withdraw from the World Cup due to a federal government-imposed ban on all international basketball activities. The ban was intended to resolve leadership disputes within the Nigeria Basketball Federation (NBBF). The men’s team, D’Tigers, almost suffered a similar fate but was saved by the rescinding of the ban a mere six weeks later, raising questions about the necessity of its imposition in the first place. The government had set up an ad-hoc committee, the Interim Management Committee (IMC), to oversee basketball affairs at the national level.
This crisis led to wasted time, resources, and opportunities, further hindering the growth of basketball in Nigeria. Such unnecessary disputes continue to stagnate the sport’s progress, making it evident that political and administrative instability remains one of the biggest obstacles to unlocking the country’s potential.
And now for some positives: Nigeria’s most remarkable basketball achievement in recent years has been delivered by the women’s team, D’Tigress when they became the first African team to reach the quarterfinals in the FIBA Women’s Basketball World Cup (2018). This feat propelled them to 8th place in the FIBA World Rankings, making them the first African nation to break into the top 10. They are also three-peat AfroBasket champions, winning the championship four consecutive times in 2017, 2019, 2021, and 2023.
As it is apparent, the blueprint for success exists; what is lacking is the will and integrity to execute it. The ball is in our court, and hopefully, the vision of Nigeria standings shoulder to shoulder with the global basketball elites and living up to our “giant” reputation doesn’t end up being just a hoop dream.
