Musa Kida, the president of the Nigeria Basketball Federation (NBBF), attributes the team’s performance at the 2024 Olympic Games to board members’ refusal to force players under D’Tigress head coach Rena Wakama.

At the Olympics, D’Tigress left a lasting impression. He advanced to the quarterfinals before losing to the US.

In the group stage, Wakama’s team triumphed over heavyweights Australia and Canada.

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Kida gave her assessment of the team’s performance and claimed the coach carried out her duties independently.

“The responsibility is that we have tried to isolate other board members from influencing, board members can suggest, they can bring in names just like anybody else but the ultimate selection of the team is in the hands of the coach and the technical crew,” .

He described the coach as visionary, saying she has proven critics wrong with her achievement at the Olympics.

“We are extremely proud of her dedication, commitment, and patience in trying to get the right thing done. It has not been easy,” he added.

“Coach Rena Wakama, we know that you did sacrifice a lot. We know that you had to tolerate and understand
the Nigerian context of things and brought energy to the team, gave the girls a lot of confidence and showed leadership.”

He asserted that Nigeria was drawn against the highest ranked team in Group B at the Olympics, appreciating the players for overcoming their fears to go beyond group-stage.

“It was the most difficult group and we are not expected to survive at all but again I always say my girls will always shock the world,” he said.

“It reminds me of 2018 when our girl went to the FIBA world cup in Geneva and we also got to the quarter final and unfortunately we were removed from the American team.”