Masai Ujiri, the President of Toronto Raptors’ basketball operations has called on Nigeria to desist from the counter- productive practice of shoving non – professionals to man the affairs of the sports industry in the country.
This trend Ujiri said has denied Nigeria’s largest and most productive population the quality leadership at the policy level that unleashes their great potentials.
Speaking alongside the President, His Excellency, Muhammadu Buhari, GCFR, at the launch of the Nigeria Exchange (NGX) Group, Masai said the nation must take its youths and sports very seriously for the nation to achieve its economic and political potentials as they remain the country’s surest path to global success.
Describing the National Stadium, Lagos, as an eyesore, Masai, who in 2003 founded “Giants of Africa” to discover basketball talent, and once served as director of the NBA’s Basketball Without Borders Africa, wondered why such a great piece of real estate has not become income-generating like other sports complexes the world over.