A few months ago, as is my usual practice, I communicated to the President of the Nigeria Basketball Federation (NBBF), Tijani Umar, my candid and sincere advise on what he and his administration needed to do regarding Nigerian basketball.
I wrote him a 25-page letter, which contained many of the issues we had differed on over time, and my position on each point. I had hoped (although I did not expect) for him to follow up, and that we would begin to see positive changes in his leadership style and administration which would pave the way for the much-needed revitalisation of the league and Nigerian basketball generally.
I had never intended for the letter to be released for public consumption, but have now decided to do so, to provide a platform for stakeholders to further expand the issues and bring pressure to bear on Umar and the NBBF for change.
The issues include, but are not limited to:
First, the complete emasculation of the NBBF Board whereby it now functions merely as a rubber-stamping organ for Umar’s decisions.
Second, the leadership style of Umar, which concentrates and domiciles all authority and power in the hands of the President.
Third, the need to reconcile the house of basketball unto itself, such that the ‘absentee board members’ would come on board to contribute their quota.
I feel that Umar continues to pay mere lip service to this objective, instead of being the initiator of any real reconciliation, considering his position as the NBBF president and the winner of the contentious election that fragmented the board.
I must, however, mention that I seriously hold the ‘absentee board members’ equally responsible for the mono-vision debacle, which the NBBF board has become. If they had not decided to abdicate their responsibilities in protest, and had stayed to rebuild a formidable board from the ashes of that election, we would have progressed beyond where we are today. I think that they could still have continued their protests while also serving and protecting the interests of Nigerian basketball.
Four, our topmost level league in this day and age consists of only 14 regular season games per year. Lower divisions are only seven or so games over about one week every year.
The negative effect of these inadequate programmes on our talent development will haunt Nigerian basketball for the next several years.
Five, our national team programmes are inconsistent, with Nigeria losing its best talents to other countries, missing international tournaments, plummeting in FIBA world rankings, etc.
Six, grassroots programmes are not coordinated using the zones, though many of the NBBF board members won their seats through these same zones.
Nigeria scarcely attends FIBA age-grade tournaments.
Seven, the only two significant tournament sponsors in Nigerian basketball are DStv Multichoice and Zenith Bank. These sponsors were brought on board by the Buba Gyang administration.
In nearly seven years (inclusive of his Task Force era), Umar’s administration has failed to market the assets of the Federation in a way that would make Nigerian basketball more attractive and bring in other sponsors.
Eight, marketing and finance are arguably the two most important functions of any NBBF board. This administration continues to flounder in this regard, engaging in some of the most ludicrous and doomed marketing partnerships and ventures.
Nine, I believe that the NBBF is no one’s personal property. Rather I believe the board members are elected to merely administer Nigerian basketball on behalf of us, the basketball stakeholders.
But if you are administering something on my behalf, I expect to see financials, budgets, strategic plans and other documented evidence, which will tell me precisely what you are doing on my behalf. And I expect to have input; not a once a year stakeholders’ drama set up to validate loyalists and enlist supporters.
Other than the president, hardly anyone (board members inclusive) has seen the contentious IMG 20-year agreement or even the scarcely publicised Team 17 or Nike agreements. The same secrecy shrouds all NBBF financial agreements that should ordinarily be in the public domain for the purposes of transparency.
No one knows exactly how much the current annual revenue of the NBBF is and how it is applied. We do not know who gets paid what commissions and allowances and whether we are comfortable with the approval processes for spending our money; yes, our money.
That is really what it is after all; and we have a right to ensure that the best financial discipline and prudence is used to administer it.
Finally, in this day and age, the NBBF still does not have an active website and is not active on social media. Despite the clamour from stakeholders for these vital communication and marketing tools, the NBBF continues to ignore all advice in this regard for whatever reason.
These and many issues form the bedrock of my issues with the current president of the NBBF and his administration.
• Bakare is a former chief coach of D’Tigers.