By our reporter 8-8-2025
Nigeria’s female basketball team D’Tigress were practically on their own at the recent FIBA Afrique Championships in Abidjan, Cote d’Ivoire, but they battled their opponents, ignored the antics of Nigeria sports officials to win the tournament.
The team was not paid any allowance or had any world of assurances from Nigeria Basketball officials, but out of self-motivation and the will to play for pride the team triumphed against all odds to make Nigeria proud.
President Bola Tinubu just like he did to the Super Falcons showered the D’Tigeres with a $100,000 reward, an apartment in Abuja and a national recognition award.
“We are really grateful to the President for his magnanimity. Otherwise, we would have been heading back home with nothing in our pockets.
“Just like previous tournaments we had no hope of getting paid our allowances, there was no form of assurances from the federation, we are really thankful to the President for the lift,” said one of the team players in Abuja.
D’Tigress won their fifth straight title after beating Mali 78-64 in the final last Sunday after a hard-fought win against Senegal in the semi-final. They also gained automatic ticket to the 2026 FIBA Women’s World Cup, billed for Berlin, Germany.