Kida, D’Tigress captain praise Tinubu after $100,000 payment

President of the Nigeria Basketball Federation, Engr. Musa Kida, and D’Tigress captain, Amy Okonkwo, have praised President Bola Ahmed Tinubu after Nigeria’s Senior Women’s Basketball team received the $100,000 payment promised for winning the 2025 FIBA Women’s Afrobasket tournament, as reported by The PUNCH.

This payment is part of the rewards announced by President Tinubu during a reception last year. He hosted the D’Tigress at the Aso Rock Villa to celebrate their historic fifth consecutive Afrobasket title. During that event, he promised each player a three-bedroom flat and $100,000 in Naira equivalent.

Recently, the chairman of the National Sports Commission, Mallam Shehu Dikko, met with the Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Prof. Taiwo Oyedele. They finalized arrangements for the payment of the outstanding rewards. Within three days of this meeting, players and officials from both D’Tigress and the Super Falcons received their funds.

President Tinubu confirmed the payment on his X handle, @officialABAT. He stated that the rewards promised to the D’Tigress had now been “fully redeemed.” Each player received the Naira equivalent of $100,000 while each official got $50,000. This also includes national honours and three-bedroom homes in Abuja.

The President noted that his administration is the first Federal Government to fully meet presidential sporting rewards of this scale within a year. He explained that the process had to go through legal procedures before every commitment could be properly implemented. “That took time, but a promise made must be a promise kept,” he said.

Tinubu mentioned that the Federal Government is also finalizing cash rewards for the Super Falcons. He pointed out that the players and officials have already received title documents for their house allocations and National Honours certificates. The houses and national honours promised to Super Eagles players have also been redeemed.

“Our athletes who bring honour to Nigeria deserve more than applause. They deserve a country that keeps its word,” the President said. He added that his promise to every Nigerian athlete is to make the country proud and return home to a grateful nation. He congratulated the D’Tigress again, saying Nigeria is proud of them.

Kida reacted to the payment with joy and thanked Dikko and the Director-General of the NSC, Hon. Bukola Olopade, for their efforts to finalize the President’s gesture. He also appreciated Oyedele for speeding up the release of the funds.

He thanked Nigerians, especially the basketball community, for their support of D’Tigress. Kida reiterated his commitment to stand by the team.

Okonkwo described President Tinubu as a father who has shown strong commitment to the development of Nigerian athletes.

“On behalf of the entire D’Tigress team, I want to specially thank our dear President, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, GCFR, for this show of love and support. We are truly grateful for everything he has done to ensure we receive all that he promised us after winning the Afrobasket last year. This is an unprecedented gesture from Mr President. We have received the houses he promised us, the national honours he bestowed on us, and now we have all received the financial rewards promised to us in our various accounts,” she said.

“We are more than grateful to Mr President, the First Lady, and the leadership of the National Sports Commission, led by the Chairman, Mallam Shehu Dikko, and the Director-General, Hon. Bukola Olopade. We are also very grateful to the Nigeria Basketball Federation and its President, Engr. Musa Kida. This shows that Nigerian sports is making a positive shift in administration and that we truly have a sports-loving President,” Okonkwo added.

D’Tigress are the reigning queens of African women’s basketball. They have won the FIBA Women’s Afrobasket for a record five consecutive times. They claimed the 2025 title in Abidjan, Ivory Coast, by defeating Mali 78-64 in the final. This victory gave them their seventh continental crown and extended Nigeria’s unbeaten run in the competition to 29 consecutive games. D’Tigress are the first team in the history of the tournament to win five successive titles.