By Joe Apu
Former D’Tigers forward and Chief Executive Officer of AFA Sports, Ugo Udezue says Nigeria’s self-imposed ban will have dire consequences on the country’s basketball for years to come.
Udezue, in an open letter to stakeholders on June 8 noted that the decision of the government will rather than make any positive impact will ruin the fortunes of generations of players.
Udezue wrote, “I am a typical example of the Nigerian basketball programme. I played on the junior and national teams that offered me the exposure to travel to the USA on a basketball scholarship to complete my education at the University of Wyoming.
“I became an accomplished sports agent representing top NBA players globally. After many years abroad, I came back in 2015 and co-founded the African Basketball League, which provided the template for what is now called the BAL which is the Basketball Africa League that is now a billion-dollar business.
“We made tremendous personal and financial sacrifices to accomplish this great feat. The same people that claim to love basketball so much were the same people that banned such a wonderful venture. These same people that now claim to have the best interest for Nigerian basketball did not raise a finger when the TJ Umar led Nigeria Basketball Federation called our sponsors and threatened them to pull sponsorships from the ABL.
“I ended up owing players because of the actions of the NBBF leadership at that time. The person that saved the ABL that season was Musa Kida (current NBBF President) and I had never met him before then. He made sure we were able to pay players and finish the season because he liked what we were doing.