President of the Nigeria Basketball Federation (NBBF), Tijani Umar, has urged sports-loving corporate bodies to emulate Zenith Bank in sports development in the country.
In a chat with TheNiche in Lagos during the unveiling of plans for this year’s Zenith Bank Women Basketball League, Umar, while commending the company for sponsoring the league for 10 years, stressed that the NBBF was looking forward to running a full-blown league on a home and away basis.
“We are happy about this development. It is a good sign for our basketball. It used to be a yearly deal, but now it has been extended for another three years.
“Zenith Bank has been great because this is its 10th year of being with us and a sign that it wants to do more for us. We urge other corporate bodies to emulate the bank, so that together we can develop our sports and not just only basketball,” he said.
Meanwhile, the second phase of the league, which holds in Ilorin, Kwara State, will begin in the first week of May, while Lagos will host the play-offs with the best eight teams at a date to be determined later.
The first phase dunked off on Friday, March 21, through Tuesday, March 25, while the closing games were held between March 27 and 29.
Last March 18, the NBBF signed a new three-year deal with Zenith Bank valued at N90 million. The 16 teams participating in the league are drawn in two groups of eight teams each.
