Former Nigeria Basketball Federation (NBBF) vice-president Babatunde Ogunade has expressed confidence in newly elected president Dr Mustapha Abdullahi, urging experienced basketball administrators to support his leadership and help move the sport forward.
Ogunade, who currently serves as the South-West zonal representative on the NBBF board, believes Abdullahi can introduce new ideas while building on the foundations established by the previous administration.
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“We are hoping that he has fresh ideas and fresh inputs to build on what the last board had done,” Ogunade said.
His remarks come following Thursday’s NBBF presidential election, which produced Abdullahi as the federation’s new leader amid differing reactions from stakeholders over the electoral process.
Ogunade stressed that experienced administrators have a responsibility to provide guidance rather than leave the new president to navigate the challenges facing Nigerian basketball alone.
“Our job as older hands is to support him in every way we can and guide him in the ways that I think that we can move the game forward,” he explained.
The former vice-president acknowledged that Abdullahi would bring his own vision to the federation, but maintained that collaboration between new leadership and experienced stakeholders would be essential to achieving meaningful progress.
“I’m sure he has his own ideas, but I see some positives,” Ogunade stated.
He described the new president as an energetic young leader whose public statements had given him reasons for optimism.
“He’s a very, very vibrant young man, and from the things that I’ve listened to him say, I think he’s on the right course,” he added.
Ogunade’s endorsement comes as Abdullahi begins his tenure with the task of uniting stakeholders, strengthening domestic basketball structures and improving the federation’s development programmes.
While the leadership transition has generated debate, Ogunade believes cooperation and institutional continuity will be important to the sport’s future.
For Ogunade, the priority is to combine Abdullahi’s fresh ideas with the experience of established administrators to build on previous achievements and strengthen Nigerian basketball.
