Africa-Press – Nigeria. The Federal Government of Nigeria has announced plans to establish not less than 109 basketball courts across the country.
This was made public by the Minister of Youth and Sports development, Sunday Dare, during a meeting this week with leaders of the Nigeria Basketball Federation (NBBF).
The basketball body had just returned from Kigali, Rwanda, where the national men’s basketball team, D’Tigers defeated South Sudan, Mali and Rwanda at the 2021 Afrobasket qualifiers.
Dare seized the occasion to announce a partnership between the Ministry and the NBBF to have at least one basketball court in each senatorial district across the country.
“We hope to start a project to have at least one basketball court in at least one senatorial district in the country through private and public participation,” said Minister Dare.
Read Also:
Sports Minister, Dare, laments deplorable state of Abuja Stadium after inspection
“That is a commitment that is being chaired by the NBBF and the Ministry of Youth and Sports.
On when the project will likely start, the Honorable Minister said plans will kick off by January 2021 with hopes of implementing them in no time.
“By January, 2021, we should have a template of how this will run, how the funding will be received, how it will be implemented and how those our young ones in primary and secondary schools, villages and some of these senatorial districts can just stroll into a basketball court and make basketball a culture.
“That is what happens in America,” Dare added.
Minister Dare, since his inception into the Ministry in 2019, has always talked about developing grassroots sports in Nigeria.
Dare’s other objective of building sporting infrastructures has also seen efforts made in several sporting complexes across the country, with the MKO Abiola Stadium in Abuja one of those under rehabilitation.
Opinions
