By Kemi Yesufu
Even the spectators loved D’Tigress and showed them the love they earned by reaching the quarterfinal stage. The Nigerian Women’s basketball team were giant killers at the Paris Olympics defeating Australia and Canada to make it to the quarter-final stage at the Olympics.
As they bow out, our girls should be proud of themselves despite exiting the Olympics. Nigeria lost 74-88, to the US.
They surmounted many challenges to get to the Olympics while their US counterparts had a comparatively easy ride to France 2024.
From the supersonic Ezinne Kanu, to the sharp-shooting Elizabeth Balogun, to the sleek Kamara Pormise, the tough Musa Murjantu, to Pallas Kunaiyi and Captain Fantastic, Amy Okonkwo, our team gave an excellent account of themselves tonight.
They lost due certain weaknesses in the team.
Majorly we have two 3-point shooters in the real sense Kanu and Balogun, unlike the US which has sharp shooters and highly technical players some of whom are among the top-10 female basketballers in the world.
Beyond the court D’Tigress lost to a team from the very best sporting system and industry in the entire world!
D’Tigress lost (gallantly) to the finest players in the WNBA!
Sadly, D’Tigress come from a system where the President sends a winning team to his wife after they won the AfRobasket trophy a record 4th time.
Coach Rema Wakama and her team should take a bow, they proved bookmakers wrong. They squeezed water out of a rock.
Wakama and the girls come from a system where AFN failed to summit the name of a star athlete, Favour Ofilii, for the 100metres competition..
D’Tigress come from a country with an inherent leadership problem. We have leaders who still don’t appreciate the soft power, sports and the creative industry gives to Nigeria.
They still don’t see sports as a tool for unity and the empowerment of young people. A vibrant sports industry will not only breed superstar athletes, it will also create jobs.
Regrettably, we have leaders who see development strictly from the perspective of building flyovers and chopping money. The current minister, Senator John Enoh, has been demystified by the sports ministry. Enoh probably will supervise Nigeria’s poorest outing at the Olympics in recent times. He had a good reputation as a competent lawmaker in the House and Senate, but he looks lost as sports minister.
How about the heads of the scoring Federations? Majority of them are not competent and they don’t really care.
Enoh launched the National Sports Policy in October 2023 but nothing has been heard about document since then. If well funded and implemented, the policy will bring much needed progress.
If President Tinubu with his touted sophistication doesn’t reorganise our sport, maybe we would have to wait for divine intervention.
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