NBBF Must End 2-week Leagues, Give Players Regular Competition — Ugboaja

Former D’Tigers international Ejike Ugboaja has called for a major overhaul of Nigeria’s domestic basketball structure, saying the Nigeria Basketball Federation (NBBF) must move away from short competitions and establish a league capable of providing players with regular competitive action.

Ugboaja, who is seeking the NBBF presidency in next month’s board elections, said on Wednesday that the decline in the domestic league had made it increasingly difficult for home-based players to develop and challenge for places in the national team.

The former Nigeria international said the domestic league in his playing days provided a platform through which he developed sufficiently to become the first player drafted into the NBA while playing in the Nigerian league in 2006.

“I was drafted from Nigeria because there was a league that allowed me to develop, perform and eventually play for Nigeria,” Ugboaja said at a press conference in Abuja.

“How many players today have had that opportunity? Very few, because we have not created the platform for them.”

Ugboaja said Nigerian basketball could not make meaningful progress with competitions lasting only a few weeks.

“We cannot continue to play two-week leagues when we know how basketball is organised abroad,” he said. “We have played basketball outside Nigeria and seen how the system works. Let us make it work here.”

He proposed a domestic league lasting at least eight months, arguing that regular competition would improve player development and create a stronger pool for the national teams.

“We should have a league that lasts at least eight months,” he said.

Ugboaja also wants basketball to be taken to secondary schools and universities as part of a wider grassroots development programme.

He said the absence of regular basketball was leaving many young people without meaningful sporting opportunities, particularly amid insecurity and other social challenges confronting the country.

“Basketball changes lives and takes young people off the streets. Basketball took me off the streets,” he said.

The former player also questioned Nigeria’s growing dependence on foreign-based players for the national team, saying a stronger domestic system would create more opportunities for locally based players to develop.

“Look at the national team. It is now difficult to see a locally based player making the national team,” he said.

“We rely heavily on players from the United States because there is no adequate platform here for local players to develop.”

Ugboaja said his proposed reforms would focus on giving players the opportunity to play regularly, improve their skills and build professional careers.

He added that his ambition was not simply to take over the federation but to create a sustainable basketball structure that could provide opportunities for the next generation.