Kida, D’Tigress captain laud Tinubu after $100,000 payment - Punch Newspapers

President of the Nigeria Basketball Federation, Engr. Musa Kida and D’Tigress captain, Amy Okonkwo, have lauded President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, GCFR, after players and officials of Nigeria’s Senior Women’s Basketball team received the $100,000 payment promised to them for winning the 2025 FIBA Women’s Afrobasket tournament, The PUNCH reports. The payment forms part of the presidential rewards announced for the team during a presidential reception held last year to celebrate D’Tigress’ historic fifth consecutive Afrobasket title, when President Tinubu hosted the squad at the Aso Rock Villa and pledged each player a three-bedroom flat and $100,000 in Naira equivalent. The chairman of the National Sports Commission, Mallam Shehu Dikko, recently met with the Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Prof. Taiwo Oyedele, to conclude arrangements for the payment of the outstanding rewards, and within three days of the conclusion of that process, players and officials of both D’Tigress and the Super Falcons received the funds. Confirming the disbursement in a post on his X handle, @officialABAT, President Tinubu said the rewards promised to the D’Tigress had now been “fully redeemed,” with each player receiving the Naira equivalent of $100,000 and each official receiving the equivalent of $50,000, completing a package that also includes national honours and three-bedroom homes in Abuja. The President said his administration had become the first Federal Government to fulfil presidential sporting rewards of that scale in full within one year, explaining that the process had to follow due legal procedure before every commitment could be properly implemented. “That took time, but a promise made must be a promise kept,” he said. Tinubu added that the Federal Government was also concluding outstanding cash rewards for the Super Falcons, noting that players and officials of the team had already received title documents to their house allocations along with National Honours certificates, just as the houses and national honours earlier promised to Super Eagles players had since been redeemed. “Our athletes who bring honour to Nigeria deserve more than applause. They deserve a country that keeps its word,” the President said, adding that his promise to every Nigerian athlete was to make the country proud and return home to a grateful nation. He congratulated the D’Tigress once more, saying Nigeria was proud of them. Governors, not Tinubu, should account for subsidy gains – Abiodun Bosun Tijani steps down from ITU Deputy Secretary-General race NWF boss lauds Adebiyi’s international referee certification Reacting to the disbursement, Kida expressed joy and extended appreciation to Dikko and the Director-General of the NSC, Hon. Bukola Olopade, for their administrative efforts in ensuring the President’s gesture was finalised, as well as to Oyedele for expediting the release of the approved funds. He thanked Nigerians, particularly the basketball community, for their support of D’Tigress, and reiterated his commitment to stand by the team. Okonkwo described President Tinubu as a father who has demonstrated strong commitment to the development and welfare 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 that 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 has shown us that Nigerian sports is taking a major 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, having won the FIBA Women’s Afrobasket for a record five consecutive times. They claimed the 2025 title in Abidjan, Ivory Coast, defeating Mali 78-64 in the final to secure their seventh continental crown, extending Nigeria’s unbeaten run in the competition to 29 consecutive games and making D’Tigress the first team in the history of the tournament to win five successive titles. Peter Akinbo Peter, who has been covering sports for PUNCH for close to two years, focuses on combat sports reporting, special features and human angle stories

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