The need for proper Basketball arena(s) in Nigeria
Listening to the top NBA analyst (Bode Oguntuyi) in Nigeria talk about the need for new and proper basketball arenas in Nigeria on the radio a couple of weeks ago, I totally agreed with him because I shared similar sentiments of having good basketball courts for the glamour of the beautiful game in Nigeria.
It should be of note that the national teams for most of the time have their games at the Indoor Sports Hall of the National Stadium, Surulere and even though it was recently renovated, it is still under-capacity and the last time the men’s national team (D’tigers) played there it couldn't accommodate everybody as some fans that tried to watch the game were not allowed in. The recently renovated facility by the NBBF was done in partnership with a host of private organizations so it could host national team and club games but in reality, that hall shouldn't be more than just a training court for the national team because it is way past its glory days.
With the NBA Africa League coming to the continent next year and Nigeria being a major part of the plan, it is only sensible for the NBBF to give this a deep thought and see the outlook it would command as a body with a plan to make the game more attractive and make people see reason the why it is one of the most followed sports in the country. In light of the recently announced NBA-Africa league coming up, it is also fair to say we can’t as fans and lovers of the beautiful game keep depending on old infrastructure, considering the fact that Senegal just built a new multifunction arena — Dakar Arena, to host major basketball games including that of her national teams. In fact, major African basketball clubs on the continent have functional arenas to host games that meet international standard. It hurts that apart from qualifiers for major continental and world tournaments, the Basketball Federation in Nigeria can’t bid to host an internationally recognized tournament due to the state of the facilities in place at the moment that are way below standard.
If we really want to show why we are part of the big names to reckon with internationally, we really need to have standard facilities to host both local and international competitions and maybe bring the annual NBA Africa all-star games to Nigeria in a not too distant future.
Thanks to Tobi Adebiyi, Mash (my ghanaian friend) for looking throught it and editing.
