The president of Nigerian Basketball Federation (NBBF), Engineer Ahmad Kusa Kida has come out with a bold pledge that the governing body for the giants’ sport will continue ‘lubricating the fan belts of talent production’ to ensure that more players are produced for the future.
Sports247 reports that Engineer Kida gave the assurance while commenting on the recent feat of the country’s cadet men’s national team in winning the FIBA Africa Zone 3 U18 Championship in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso.
Kida was beaming with delight, after seeing the team win all four of their matches to top Zone 3 and secure automatic qualification for the finals, scheduled for August 3rd to 6th in Côte d’Ivoire, where they will play along with the country’s females, who earlier secured automatic qualification.
The U18 Tigers pulled off a perfect 4-0 record by defeating Benin Republic 96-35 and 101-43 as well as trouncing Burkina Faso 98-54 and 100-54 in their double-layered games to emerge champions of the sub-region and qualified for the Africa FIBA U18 Championship.
With attention now shifting to the continental assault, Kida revealed that the NBBF is already working hard to consolidate the results ahead of the 2026 U18 AfroBasket and gave credit to collective effort from every member of the federation’s board for the conquest in Ouagadougou.
“The NBBF shall continue to lubricate the fan belts of the talent production factories of the game in Nigeria,” Kida submitted, while pointing out that the current leadership of basketball in the country is prioritising efforts in grassroots development, without neglecting other aspects of the game.
