NIS Director Philip Shaibu Urges Igoche Mark to Continue Developing Nigerian Basketball

National Institute for Sports Director-General Philip Shaibu has urged basketball promoter Igoche Mark not to abandon his efforts to develop the sport in Nigeria.

Shaibu made the appeal in Abuja while receiving Mark, who visited to assess basketball coaches undergoing training through his 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.

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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.

The NIS director-general said the institute had been positioned to rely more on private-sector support because dependence on annual government funding was no longer sustainable. He described the institute as the engine room of the sports ecosystem, responsible for training people working across the sector.

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I thank you for what you have done for basketball, and I plead with you: do not give up on basketball.

"I thank you for what you have done for basketball, and I plead with you: do not give up on basketball," Shaibu said.

Mark praised the transformation he saw at the institute and linked it to Shaibu's previous sports work in Edo State. He said 20 former players were taking part in the coaching programme and needed certification to work on the international scene. Mark added that the Mark D' Ball Championship would soon launch an academy and would explore further cooperation with the NIS and FIBA.

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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.

Shaibu said the institute had opened six zonal centres, one in each geopolitical zone. Lagos and Abuja will oversee degree programmes, while the zonal centres will offer advanced diploma and diploma courses. State centres will provide basic certificates. The NIS has also introduced weekend programmes, with executive online classes scheduled to begin next year.

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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).