The Director General and Chief Executive Officer of the National Institute for Sports (NIS), Rt. Hon. Philip Shaibu, has urged basketball promoter and Initiator of the Mark D’ Ball Basketball Championship, Mr. Igoche Mark, not to relent in his efforts to develop the game in Nigeria.
Shaibu made the appeal on Monday in Abuja when he received Mark, who was on a visit to assess basketball coaches currently undergoing training under Mark’s sponsorship.
“I want to thank you for stopping by to see some of our students. I am told that you are sponsoring quite a number of them, and I am confident that this partnership will yield results,” Shaibu said.
“We have positioned the NIS to be private sector-driven, and that is how it should be. Over-reliance on government funding is no longer sustainable. Government has created several agencies and MDAs that should naturally be driven by the private sector, but the culture of waiting for the annual budget cycle has left many of them moribund.
“For us at the NIS, we understand that this institute is the engine room of sports. It is responsible for the empowerment of the sporting ecosystem. Anyone working in the sports sector is supposed to pass through here for training.
“I thank you for what you have done for basketball, and I plead with you: do not give up on basketball.”
Earlier in his remarks, Mark commended the DG for the transformation witnessed at the institute, noting that Shaibu’s antecedents in Edo State, particularly in sports development, were evident.
“We were here in 2022, but coming here today and seeing the level of transformation, I am not surprised. Knowing what you did in Edo, I know that excellence has always been part of you. With people like you in this country, there is hope because you turn things around,” Mark stated.
“I came here today to see the basketball coaches undergoing their training program. I believe this is the first time we are having such a large number here (20 students).
“I came to encourage them. These were players before, and now they are transitioning into coaching. But without proper certification, they cannot function on the international scene because you cannot sit on the bench without it.
“I am here to partner the NIS and see how we can upscale their knowledge. The Mark D’ Ball Championship will soon launch an academy, and we will need these coaches. We will also explore how we can partner further and engage FIBA going forward.”
Shaibu disclosed that the NIS has expanded its reach with the opening of six zonal centres, one in each geopolitical zone.
He added that the Lagos and Abuja centres will oversee degree-awarding programmes, while the zonal centres will run Advanced Diploma and Diploma courses. State centres, he said, will handle basic certificate programsme.
He further announced that the institute has introduced weekend programmes and that executive online classes will commence next year.
Mark, in turn, encouraged the students to take full advantage of the opportunities provided by the NIS and pledged continued sponsorship for their future training programmes.