By Francis Ajuonuma
South-South zone basketball stakeholders through the South-South Basketball Assembly, have collectively agreed not to participate in any basketball tournament organized by the Federal Ministry of Youth and Sports Development backed Interim Management Committee (IMC).

In a release signed by the chairman of Cross River State Basketball, Ekanem Ekpenyoung, on behalf of the South-South Zone Basketball Assembly and made available to TNSports, the zone expressed disappointment in the sports ministry’s decision to pull Nigeria out of all international competitions and the inauguration of an Interim Management Committee to take over from the duly elected Musa Kida led the board of the Nigeria Basketball Federation (NBBF).

Ekpenyoung also accused the sports ministry of bias in the handling of the NBBF leadership tussle which he said was created by the sports ministry in its bid to edge out the Kida led board of the NBBF despite being duly elected in the accordance with the NBBF constitution as approved by the Federation of International Basketball Association (FIBA).

The stakeholders, however, called on the sports ministry to reverse the decision to create the IMC, as they view such a move as illegal, unprofessional in the 21st-century sports administration and completely counterproductive. This decision also goes against the provisions of the NBBF-approved constitution.

“How can the Ministry explain giving directives to the NBBF to use their legal document (constitution) to hold their elective congress and turn their face to open the stadium for a group of illegal people to go and do a kangaroo sitting, yet the Ministry will pretend that there was an election, just to achieve their aim? So who is fooling who?

“The South-South zone stakeholders went through all the reasons the ministry gave for withdrawing Nigeria from all international engagements and found all false, baseless, and unfounded. They were manufactured reasons by the ministry to damage the game of Basketball in Nigeria.

“All countries use their best players, wherever they are to carry the flags of the country onto the global stage. Why is the ministry expecting Nigeria to behave differently? Still, Nigeria-based players are always included in each international outing.

“For the ministry to come out and write officially to FIBA, requesting for a two (2) year withdrawal from all international engagements for no reason at all, amounts to killing the chick that lays the golden egg in Nigerian sports, and this action of the ministry should be condemned in its totality,” he said.

Rüdiger joins Real Madrid from Chelsea

“The stakeholders view this decision as unwise and not well thought through at all and call on the ministry to withdraw such a destructive request from FIBA.

“The South-South Stakeholders, are requesting the minister to immediately direct the endorsement of the elective congress that was held on the 31st of January, 202 in Benin, Edo state, so that the board can quickly settle down and hit the ground running.

“Therefore, the South-South stakeholders will not embark on another wild goose chase if the Federal Ministry Of Youth and Sports Development does not hand off the administration of basketball in Nigeria and only play its oversight functions as embedded in the approved constitution of the NBBF,” Ekpenyoung added.