₦airaland Forum

SmartPolician:
Forget grammar. Basketball is not popular in Nigeria because of lack of government investment.

The day the government starts investing billions into basketball in Nigeria, every child will want to be a basketball player. That's how powerful government is.

From this thread, we can see that most investments in basketball come from individuals and organisations.

LASPARK PARTNERS RED BULL ON BASKETBALL COURT UPGRADE

Lagos State Parks and Gardens Agency (LASPARK), in a bid to improve the health and well-being of Lagosians, as well as promote community engagement, has partnered with Red Bull on the renovation and upgrade of the Basketball Court in Ndubuisi Kanu Park, Alausa.

Unveiling the newly renovated Basketball Court, the General Manager of LASPARK, Mrs. Adetoun Popoola, expressed gratitude to Red Bull for the rehabilitation work, saying the State Government will continue to seek out opportunities for collaboration to promote recreation and beautification in Lagos State.

“The partnership on this project is in line with LASPARK’s mandate to promote beautification, recreation and leisure in Lagos State", she said.
Popoola highlighted the importance of parks and gardens as safe spaces for members of communities to converge, interact and improve their health and wellness by being active, noting that parks can contribute to lower crime rates in communities.

She added that the partnership also affirms Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu’s commitment to a Healthy and Sustainable Environment in Lagos, stating that LASPARK is open to exploring partnerships and collaborations that will benefit residents of the State.

The General Manager averred that Red Bull's aim, through the partnership, was to leave a strong and positive legacy behind by working with local communities to upgrade existing playgrounds, courts and community centres.

“The artwork in the basketball court was done by popular urban graffiti artist Osa ‘Seven’ Okunpolor, arguably, one of the most talented and sought-after graffiti artists in Africa; who teamed up with Red Bull on the basketball court upgrade project”, she revealed.

The newly rehabilitated basketball court hosted 16 basketball teams from all over Nigeria, who had made it through the qualifiers for the National Finals of the Red Bull Half Court Competition.

The 3 x 3 basketball tournament holds in more than 20 countries across the world, with the World Final slated for September 2021 in Russia.

yummy001:
You are right brother.. I finished from Igbobi College Yaba in 2002 the year it was returned back to the missionaries after many years of mismanagement by the state government.

And I can tell you for a fact we were the only only school around the whole axis that could boast of a single basketball court due to the influence of the missionaries who built the school unlike every other government secondary school in that mainland axis..

The funny thing is, there is hardly no government secondary without a football field which tells you how popular football is in Nigeria compared to basketball..

We used to play basketball competition with the likes of Kings College, St. Gregory's college and CMS Grammar school because they all have basketball court too thanks to the missionary influence. I think the competition used to be called KIGS Cup..

All our neighbouring poorer equipped govt schools couldn't participate in the basketball competitions because of obvious reasons.. Most of them had never even seen a real life basketball before except on TV compared to different qualities of football littered everywhere.. It was that bad. I don't think there is a kid who grew up in Lagos in the 90's who did not know what "felele" was..

This shows you how "elitist" basketball is and was compared to football Principal's cup that every govt secondary school in Lagos was participating in during our time no matter how poorly equipped they were..

So I get your point brother..

Naptu2, I must commend you for the wonderful job you are doing.. You remain one of the remaining shining lights on Nairaland.. There is always something to learn from your legendary thread each time.. Keep remaining the legend that you are!

Lanrelagboi:
The Lagos State Parks and Gardens Agency (LASPARK) has collaborated with the National Basketball Association (NBA Africa) and Hennessy to remodel the Basketball Court within Ikorodu Recreational Park.

Speaking at the commissioning and handover ceremony of the NBA Legacy Basketball Court in Ikorodu, the General Manager of LASPARK, Mrs. Adetoun Popoola, said the rehabilitation of the sports facility is part of the Agency's efforts to contribute to the growth and development of youths in the State.

She expressed the determination of LASPARK to continue collaborating with the private sector on projects that will foster unity amongst residents, noting that NBA Africa is a global sports and media business committed to increasing access to the game of basketball across Africa through infrastructure development of courts.

Popoola acknowledged that the refurbished playing ground will boost sporting activities in the neighbourhood and also complement the State government’s drive towards engaging the youths positively.

Also speaking, the Vice President of NBA Africa, Gbemisola Abudu, appreciated the Lagos State Government for creating an enabling environment that facilitated quick delivery of the Court.

She mentioned that the commissioning is a significant one as it coincides with the celebration of the 75th year anniversary of the NBA league and the launching of the NBA office in Nigeria.

Abudu recognised the tremendous impact Nigeria has had in the game, adding that NBA will continue to play its part in the growing basketball ecosystem in the country. She also disclosed that one of the many Courts planned by the NBA for Africa will be built in Nigeria.

The Vice President of NBA Africa averred that the youths have a lot to benefit from the game, stating that the NBA believes in the transformative power of basketball for social good and that the court will be a place of memory for many children.

The newly renovated Court is a standard regulation basketball field that meets international standards. The original court surface area was less than the standard required, hence its perimeter was expanded. Its railings were fabricated locally as part of the local content NBA Africa promotes.

The playing floor is overlayed with a layer of modular synthetic weather resistant material. The sport court layer is specially engineered to optimise shock absorption, reduce the risk of impact injury and provide the best combination of abrasion protection and dry traction.

naptu2:
Very simple thing. All you need is public courts and there are many public courts. In actual fact, you don't even need a public court. I have seen many primary schools and churches that don't even have space for a court, but they hung one rim up and kids from the area go there to play.

Go back and read about Murjanatu's ecperience in Kebbi.


I think it's you that is just judging based on his surroundings.

Chienex24:
Oga rest! You just wan argue!!! Football is 10x more popular than basketball due to his stated facts. You be person wey go reach Brazil still argue with them about football and basketball popularity. Rest jare!!!

aswani:
Super thread naptu2, a shame the "football is bigger" people must come here to add nothing to the thread.

I don't think you mentioned Chukah Momah who was the presenter for NBA basketball extended match highlights in the mid-eighties for an NTA networked prime time programme.

To your point about impromptu basketball courts, at my secondary school we used tree branches as the basket. One curved enough overlapping another branch to form a hole of sorts. Very popular when someone turned up with a basketball.

At Uniben, there was a decent court that was relatively well maintained and used. NUGA games unfailingly had basketball as did Sports festivals. The NYSC camp that I went to also had a basketball tournament between platoons. Forces games and the likes also had basketball tournaments.

Lagos state used to have yearly basketball secondary schools competitions at Rowe Park in the 80's, well attended they were as well. In fact there was a year that I know that the thugs that followed principals Cup matches turned up, those of a certain age would know why that explains the popularity.

Without wanting to feed into the "football trolling in a basketball thread" fire, I think the younger generation don't seem to realise that at some point, sportsmen and women were multi disciplined and it wasn't all about football.

In the old Bendel state, Afuze games village, New era secondary school was set up for budding sports people, not just footballers.

What about press coverage, evening newspapers particularly in Lagos were big on previewing Basketball, Handball and Volleyball tournaments and the Sports part of the Network news carried highlights of tournaments too.

I and my friends never did get to go to the indoor Sports hall at Surulere but I knew the names of a lot of the teams you mentioned. I am also not an "Island boy" which seems to be some kind of inference about why you know these things from our trolling friends.

Keep up the super work.

naptu2:
Memories.

(I was waiting to see the interaction).

It was the final of a basketball tournament at the National Stadium in the late 1980s or early 1990s and it was being shown live on TV.

Admiral Aikhomu was the special guest of honour. There was a line of senior basketball officials at the center of the court and the Admiral was shaking hands with them.

I was waiting to see what would happen when Aikhomu got to a certain man. I think the man was wearing a tracksuit, but I can't remember for sure.

Aikhomu got to the man and offered his hand, but the man first stood at attention before he shook the Admiral's hand.

Sam Ahmedu was in civilian attire (and that's why he didn't salute), but he stood at attention. I think this was before he became a colonel and this was certainly long before he founded Dodan Warriors.

naptu2:
For anybody that says that Samco was elitist or something like that. The only reason that you don't know Samco is probably because you are too young, not because it was expensive or elitist. It's like saying TomTom or Fan Yogo is expensive or elitist.

Zoom in and look at the prices (the k means kobo).