Kida Eyes Glorious 2021 for Nigerian Basketball

President of the Nigeria Basketball Federation (NBBF) Musa Kida is hopeful of a better 2021 as basketball stakeholders continue to savour the new found status of its teams on the global scene.

Kida who was recently named 2020 Sun Newspaper Sports Personality of the Year recipient,said the out going year remains one many Nigerians will hope to wish away because of the global lockdown by Covid-19 that disrupted sports and other activities.

Despite D’Tigress booking its 2020 Olympics ticket and the conclusion of the Total Division One League earlier in the year before the Covid-19 global pandemic, Kida opined that the federation could have achieved more.

“By now, we should have concluded the Olympics in Tokyo and maybe return as a medalist in the Men and Women’s categories, but because of the pandemic, there was a postponement.”

“On the local scene, the Zenith Women League, Total Men Divisions One and Two Leagues as well as the President Cups all suffered postponements which would have added to some of our programs for the year under review.”

He expressed optimism that the global sports industry can come to terms with the new normal and come up with a safe environment where sports will thrive once again.

He thanked the management and staff of The Sun Newspaper for deeming him worthy of such recognition for the second time since coming on board in 2017.

“On behalf of players, coaches, technical officials, board members of the NBBF and all basketball stakeholders, I wish to thank The Sun for this award which means a lot to me. It is a validation of the good works we have been doing as a federation.”

“This will spur us to do more on the home front and the international scene in line with our promises when we came on board”, Kida said.

Following the recent FIBA ranking, D’Tigers maintained their status as the best team in Africa while moving up a place to 22nd spot on the global ranking after a solid start to its 2021 Afrobasket qualification.