Former Nigeria international, Felix Akiga takes a look into Nigeria’s chances at the forthcoming FIBA Basketball World Cup in China later in the year and says only the team can ruin itself given the excellent run they posted in the African qualifiers.

The proprietor of defunct Gboko Giants and Gboko Heats who is into the hospitality industry now in this interview with Freethrow explains his new found love insisting that Nigeria stands to increase her revenue if attention is given to sports tourism.

Nigeria’s chances in China 2019

Nigeria as a nation is blessed with talents but the key is managing them and the individual players. You see the problem with many coaches is that the best players could be indiscipline but if you can manage him on and off the court then you can be sure to get the best out of the player.

Take for instance Brazil’s World Cup winning team that had Ronaldihno, Romario and their others, the coach had to provide security for his players to go to the night club as part of his strategy. It’s all about knowing the players, their capabilities and knowing how to use them.

I must commend Nigeria’s coach; Alex Nwora is doing a good job in terms of managing players and bringing new players to give them a chance to prove themselves. My advice to the Nigeria Basketball Federation is that we should all put our individual differences aside and put the interest of Nigeria above every other thing.

Nigeria has qualified for the World Cup and the standard is set. We need players who can fit the bill and for the coach not to just have a starting five but a crop of players that you can substitute five and bring in another five that can also do the job. That way, you have a back up team in case of injury. The coach must look at the physical and mental approach of the players in selecting who makes the cut.

I was opportune to watch the national team in Lagos and I must say I was impressed with what I saw of them at the National Stadium, Surulere. I wish the team luck and I believe they will perform well in China.

Venture into Sports tourism

Basically, sports and tourism go together. We decided to go into sports tourism and that needed the accommodation aspect of it. Most times, sports people travel long distances and don’t get to rest in affordable places. This leads to fatigue and affects the performance of the athletes. To help give desirable comfort to athletes as well as officials, we came up with 3-Star budget hotels which afford you good sleep in a very relaxed atmosphere just like what we have worldwide.

Our hotels are known for not compromising quality for price but then we share our profits with our customers. That’s why we ever you find us, we’re always fully booked and we’ve been in this since the time of Gboko Giants and then Gboko Heats way back in 1998/99 and have sojourned on for 20 years. After diversifying from the sponsorship of the team, we went into the hospitality industry and at the moment, we have about 450 bedrooms in Makurdi, Obudu, Abuja, Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria; the University of Jos, in Obudu and now in the University of Benin, Edo State.

Ultimately, our aim is to be in the six geo-political zones of the country and then become a referral hotel.

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Sports tourism and Nigeria’s future

It is high time Nigeria as a nation look inwards and work towards boosting sports tourism. The days of Nigeria depending solely on oil is gradually coming to an end. In the US, oil is becoming less important and in the next two decades, the black gold will become extinct; therefore more attention needs to be paid in this area and Nigeria can tap from sports and social tourism.

Presence at the Qatar 2022 World Cup

Yes, it is our intention to provide services to people from around the world. We’re already doing time shared property in Doha. This is a consortium of people who come together and put down money to build a 20-25-story building that would serve people from around the world during the World Cup. We have invested in five floors of one of such skyscrapers.

Sports then and sports now

The difference is all about desire and the mind set. During my time, we never had the comfort of what the young ones have now with so much technology to their advantage. But then, we had basic fundamentals and that’s why till now, I can still put a basketball on the floor and the younger players cannot take it from me.  What they can boast off is stamina and energy but not the skills. Young players don’t want to go into the basics because they think it’s time consuming but rather depend on strength which does not last long.

Once you’re exhausted, you can’t go any further and if they do, they would be inviting injuries. Today, there’s more money in sports and more deaths because the young athlete does not know the difference between recreation and competition. Return to basketball sponsorship

Yes, because basketball remains my first constituency and my home. Truth is that I took time off to exploy other opportunities and diversified from my comfort zone. From the funds that come in as profit, we can come back to full ownership of a club or sponsorship of a basketball event. The main aim of putting Gboko Gaints, Gboko Heats was to win the Nigeria national league by creating a new atmosphere for club competition and then go ahead to win the African Club championship and then go for the Diamond League which is a prelude to the World Cup.

Many run clubs for social welfare but I see sports purely as business because I played and earned money from it. I built my reputation from playing basketball and making money, so when I look at sports, I look at money.

Relaxation

Music is what soothes my nerves and I enjoy it. I can shut down for two days doing nothing but relaxing. It helps me gather myself for the next task.