Minister of Youth and Sports Development, Sunday Dare, has described D’Tigress’ 2021 FIBA Women’s Afrobasket victory as a worthy independence day gift to Nigerians.
Dare said this at a reception held in honour of the victorious team at the VIP Lounge of the Moshood Abiola National Stadium, Abuja, on Monday.
Nigeria defeated Mali 70-59 to claim a third consecutive title on Sunday in Yaounde, Cameroon.
Dare said the ministry was ready to work more closely with the Nigeria Basketball Federation to further develop the game in the country.
“I want to congratulate the team for winning the Afrobasket trophy and that is gold, you can see the golden cup here for the third consecutive time.
“They have shown a rare dominance, the dominance of the women basketball terrain by D’Tigress from the African continent, I can say it’s now indisputable,” the minister said.
He also praised the girls for placing Nigeria on the global map of basketball, also commending the team handlers for properly blending the home-based players with the foreign-based.
“We have seen how they are also blending the home-based players with the foreign players, that is the DNA of our sports as a country whether it is basketball or football, that blend always works for us.
“I want to thank each and every player, those that went to the Olympics, those that went to Senegal, and those that went to Cameroon that entire team has always done this country proud and I know that they have more victories ahead of them.
“I also thank them for putting Nigeria on the global map of basketball, the same goes to D’Tigers. I can now say that Nigeria is truly a basketball nation,” he added.