Philip Shaibu Urges Mark D’Ball to Keep Supporting Nigerian Basketball

Philip Shaibu challenges Mark D’Ball founder to “never give up” on Nigerian basketball

The Director General of the National Institute for Sports (NIS), Comrade Philip Shaibu, has thrown his weight firmly behind one of the country’s most consistent private backers of basketball, urging Igoche Mark to stay the course in his drive to grow the game in Nigeria.

Shaibu hosted the Mark D’Ball Basketball Championship initiator on Monday in Abuja, where Mark visited to motivate a group of basketball coaches currently undergoing training under his sponsorship.

The NIS boss did not hide his admiration.

He praised Mark for bankrolling the programme and backing a new generation of coaches, many of whom are former players trying to build a second career in the sport. Shaibu stressed that such partnerships between public institutions and private promoters can shift the landscape of Nigerian basketball if sustained.

“I am told that you are sponsoring quite a number of them, and I am confident that this partnership will yield results,” Shaibu said, before delivering his central message: “I thank you for what you have done for basketball, and I plead with you: do not give up on basketball.”

For Mark, the visit doubled as a progress check on the country’s premier sports institute.

He hailed the transformation he met at the NIS, drawing a direct line between the current changes and Shaibu’s track record in Edo State, where the DG previously made his name in sports development.

“We were here in 2022, but coming here today and seeing the level of transformation, I am not surprised,” Mark said, pointing to the facilities and structure now in place. “Having seen 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.”

Then he turned back to the reason for his visit: the coaches in training.

Mark underlined that the days of informal, uncertified coaching at the top level are gone. The modern game, he noted, demands technical education and proper credentials.

“I came to encourage those undergoing training. They were once players, and now they are transitioning into coaching. Without proper certification, you cannot function on the international scene because you cannot sit on the bench if you are not certified,” he said.

It was a clear message from both men: if Nigerian basketball is serious about competing beyond its borders, the work must start in classrooms and gyms like those at the NIS, with private initiative and public support pulling in the same direction.