The Minister of Youth and Sports Development, Mr Sunday Dare has restated his commitment to the development of the game of basketball in Nigeria.
He made this known following the victory of the D’Tigers in China where they defeated the Chinese basketball team 86-73 to qualify for the Olympics.
Dare further restated the ministry’s commitment to developing other sports alongside football where certain sports including basketball will be leveraged upon in the build-up to the Olympics.
It will be recalled that the minister who followed up with the D’Tigers for each of their games had placed a call to them moments after they won.
In his tweet about the team’s victory he said “D’Tigers secured Africa’s sole Olympic ticket to Tokyo 2020. We will strive to keep them together as a team. Football, basketball, Athletics, boxing, weightlifting, table tennis, canoeing etc will engage our attention.”
The Minister also called the team before each game in order to motivate them. Moments after their victory, the Minister conveyed the congratulatory message of President Muhammadu Buhari to D’Tigers players and coaching staff.
