Sports
Continental Basketball League To Promote Lagos Culture – Organisers
Organisers of the ongoing Continental Basketball League (CBL), which dunked off on Friday in Lagos, Ugo Udueze, has said that he was interested more in promoting the culture of the state through basketball.
The competition which is ongoing at the Teslim Balogun Stadium, Surulere, Lagos, is tagged “May Madness Tournament” in celebration of Lagos State at 50.
Udueze told newsmen that the CBL would bring more awareness about the state as a sports hub for the nation and Africa.
The opening game was a spectacle as fans were treated to an awesome ambience which was a scintillating experience.
Younde Giants of Cameroon set the ball rolling as they dismissed Lagos Warriors 104-66 in the opening game of the tournament that was watched by a capacity crowd at the Teslim Balogun Stadium.
Udueze described the experience as “beautiful”, and said that the league promised to bring the best exposure to Lagos State as sports hub of the nation and for Africa.
“This and many other good things coming are what we planned and sincerely the best is yet to come when the whole teams settle down to play quality basketball under good and conducive atmosphere.
“It is about us creating an opportunity where we provide a better atmosphere and service with proper logistics and basically creating something for Africans by Africans.
“This is about us trying to create job opportunities for our youths so that they can earn something and basically creating that opportunity for everybody.
“It is also about creating that sports industry which is very capital intensive and given other business individuals the opportunity to invest and believe in the success that can be achieved.
“We believe in the sports industry and we are in it because it is from an African perspective and not just doing it like the Europeans or like the Americans is in investing in sports, especially sports tourism,” Udueze said.
Godwin Owinjie, the head coach of City Stars, one of the teams that will feature in the competition, said that it was the best thing happening to Lagos and Africa as a whole.
“The best is yet to come and looking at the ambience, the quality of the sports hall, indeed this is what we want to see just as it is done in the U.S. and in Europe,” Owinjie said.
Babatunde Ogunade, the Chairman, Lagos state Basketball Association (LSBBA), said the CBL is structured to project basketball and Lagos State as whole in a positive light.
He said that the league had set the tone of how quality basketball is organised to the delight and comfort of fans and the business community.
“Lagos State has always been in support of individuals’ development that will bring progress to the state and the youth.
“The CBL is a great initiative that seeks to showcase the quality side of the state to the rest of the world and indeed we are proudly backing the innovation,” Ogunade said.
Rawane Ndiaye, a U.S. citizen who plays for Lagos Warriors, told newsmen that coming to play basketball in Nigeria is a great experience for him and that he was looking forward to the whole exercise.
“The atmosphere is beautiful, we are having fun and I am loving every minute of it.
Hon Dike who spoke with sports journalists shortly after the flag off the 2024 edition of Chairman’s Football Unity Tournament at Botem Tai in Tai LGA, said the tournament is an annual event to promote peace and unity in Tai as well identify budding talents in the area for global competition.
The opening ceremony of the tournament was more like a carnival was witnessed by huge crowd including prominent indigenes of Ogoni Kingdom, sports lovers and people from all works of life.
The LGA boss revealed that special sports committee will be setup in the area to work out modalities to strengthen sports development in Tai.
He advised the participants in the tournament from various wards in the LGA to play the game by the rules and conduct themselves in a peaceful and orderly manner and use the opportunity to showcase their talents.
Hon Dike further disclosed that his administration will also give priority attention to skills development among the youth to enhance their human capacity and promote enterprise development in the area.
Earlier in his address the Chairman of Tai LGA Football Council, Elder Wisdom Gorgor said the annual football competition has been a unifying factor in Tai LGA that need to be sustained to forge more unity and development in the area.
He urged the participants to see the competition as an opportunity to embrace football as a full career and earn sustainable livelihood.
Elder Gorgor who commended the Chairman of Tai LGA, Hon Dike for his visionary leadership and tremendous development achievements recorded in the LGA under his administration, appealled to the Chairman to build a Mini Sports Stadium in the area to promote sporting activities.
The training was held at the Sani Abacha Stadium Indoor Basketball Court in Kano last Saturday.
According to the Vice President and Head of NBA Nigeria, Gbemisola Abudu, the event was part of the league’s commitment to growing broader basketball ecosystem in Nigeria and making the game more accessible across the country.
“Our first Jr. NBA clinic in Kano speaks to our commitment to growing the game in Nigeria and creating more opportunities for boys and girls to learn and play the game,” Abudu said.
“Nigeria has a rich basketball history and abundance of talent, which is evident every time you watch an NBA game. We look forward to continuing to engage with basketball stakeholders, business leaders and members of the community to further the game’s reach and impact on young people around the country,” she added.
The 2024 basketball initiative clinics of NBA Nigeria also included the league’s inaugural Jr. NBA elite camp for 150 boys and age-16 girls held at the American International School in Lagos in July.
Others include the NBA’s building of 1,000 courts in Africa over the next decade, Nigeria’s Festival Coins and Salubata named the top two winning businesses at NBA Africa Triple-Double Accelerator’s inaugural Demo Day in New York City held last September, and the third edition of “NBA Meets Art,” a curated installation celebrating basketball through the lens of Nigerian art and culture as part of West Africa’s premier art fair Art X Lagos, held in November.
Central to this vision is the federation’s investment in capacity building, evident in the just-concluded one-week Level 1 Badminton World Federation (BWF) Coaching Course, which marked a significant milestone for Nigerian badminton.
Held in Abuja, the course brought together 13 young coaches from across Nigeria. The last time such a course was held in the country was in 2017, making this a historic and transformative step.
The training was facilitated by the Badminton Confederation of Africa (BCA) in partnership with the Badminton Federation of Nigeria (BFN) and conducted by Dr. Ahmed Radah, the BCA Development Manager.
Radah, impressed by the talent he witnessed, praised Nigeria’s potential.
“Nigeria is blessed with immense talent and a strong badminton tradition. I believe this country has what it takes to dominate on the global stage,” he remarked.
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