The immediate re-entry of Nigeria into international basketball events has been authorized by President Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retired).
Ismaila Abubakar, the Federal Ministry of Youth and Sports Development’s Permanent Secretary, made this announcement on Thursday at a news conference in Abuja.
He claims that the approval was given as a result of an appeal letter that was sent to Sunday Dare, the minister of youth and sports development, on June 17, 2022, and signed by Musa Kida, the president of the Nigeria Basketball Federation board.
In the letter, the Minister was urged to use his influence to lobby President Buhari to reverse Nigeria’s two-year suspension from international basketball events,
Some critical commitments were made in the appeal letter, including the need to immediately begin the status review or constitutional amendment process based on input from stakeholders gathered by the Ministry of Youth and Sports Development, to form a powerful team to mediate disputes between all disputing members of the basketball family at home and abroad and to collaborate with the Ministry in the governance and development of basketball, among other things.
Given the foregoing and after reviewing them, the Federal Ministry of Youth and Sports Development approached President Muhammadu Buhari with these developments.
The permanent secretary said that Buhari is committed to youth development and wants to make sure they take advantage of all opportunities in sports and other endeavors. He also loves our youth, so he did this out of a general sense of national interest to prevent basket development from entering a protracted period.
Abubakar added that despite the clearance, the stakeholders had been cautioned to make sure that national law was not superseded by any other laws.
As with any constitutionally bound sovereign nation, failure to do so will result in penalties. Adding that before any federation or entity that uses the name, colors, and flag of Nigeria to represent itself, there was initially a country.
“Secondly, that all those that lead government organizations and in this case our federations, hold such positions in trust for the Government and people of Nigeria under the direct supervision of the Minister of Youth and Sports,” he said.
