Nigeria's male and female U18 national teams arrived in Abidjan, Cote d'Ivoire last Thursday ahead of the FIBA U18 qualifying tournament slated for July 29 to August 4. The tipoff is scheduled for Wednesday.

As of press time, the exact fixtures had not been decided with the pre-competition meeting billed for Tuesday night.

It is a fiesta in Paris, France as the Olympic Games continue, but for these young Nigerians it is a chance to develop, win some games and qualify for a bigger competition in South Africa and eventually ultimate growth into D’Tigers and D’Tigress teams.

The boys and girls teams were able to train for two weeks in Nigeria preparatory to the trip to Abidjan as the Nigeria Basketball Federation remained resolute to keep their youth programmes going

The Leader of Delegation and Vice Chairman of the Youth Committee on the Board of the NBBF, Ugo Udezue said from the Abidjan centre that the NBBF remains focused on their set developmental goals. He then expressed deep gratitude to the NBBF President Musa Kida for his resilience creating an enabling environment and all those that volunteered time and resources to bring the team to Abidjan.

“We are grateful to Ministry of Sports Development and the Nigerian government in general for making the platform available to these young ones. They genuinely understand the set goals of the NBBF.

“The determination to pursue quality youth programmes got us this far. Preparing the team and making the trip from Lagos to Abidjan may have been challenging but the federation is determined to stay focused on the goals of youth development. We must continue to develop the young ones for sustenance,” Ugo said on Tuesday.

The Federation’s ideals have sustained the men’s Divisions One and Two Leagues with corporate sponsorship. The division two players are largely teenagers in from schools across the country.

The boys U18 team in Abidjan has Bassey Ekpo Effiong, Abraham Boyce Hart, Sani Samuel, Azeez Suleiman Olaitan, Daubuna Ibrahimdau-Mutum, John Wilberforce and Precious Johha. Others are Duru Augustine Chinedu, Kpee Favour Komene, Jovan Ojako Chiebuka, Favour Ibe Ikedinachukwu and Ezekiel Isaac Oluwatemitope.

The ladies are Tewogbade Ayomide, Gbemisola Samuel, Khadijat Garba, Amarachi Umeh, Chiamaka Mgbon, Osaretin Samuel, Chiamaka Iwuji and Olanrewaju Ayodeji. The others are Pius Idubawo Beggi, Maryam Idris, Wandoo Hembam and Isaac Abigail.

The U18 boys are coached by Fubara Onyanabo while former national point guard Juliana Akhere is in charge of the young ladies.

The best teams from the zonal qualifiers in Ivory Coast will be in South Africa later in the year for the African finals.