Mueez Ajao

– The Nigerian government made a sudden U-turn on Thursday and cleared its national basketball teams to return to competition immediately.

– The decision to lift a ban on the teams from playing in international competitions came after an appeal to the government by the Nigerian Basketball Federation and “intervention” by former Nigerian international players, the sports ministry said. Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari approved the return to play, the ministry said in a statement.

– The Nigerian government withdrew its teams from international competitions for a two-year period last month, citing a leadership struggle and other administrative problems within the national basketball federation.

Also Read: ‘I’ll never wear Nigeria’s green and white again

– That move led to the women’s team losing its place at the World Cup in Australia in September. It’s unclear if the team will be able to get its place at the World Cup back after international governing body FIBA named Mali as a replacement. The Nigerian sports ministry said it had recently been speaking with FIBA.

– The two-year ban also threatened the men’s team’s qualification for the 2023 World Cup. The World Cup qualifiers start again July 1, and the Nigeria men’s team tweeted following the lifting of the ban that it was “scrambling” to see if it can now make the qualifying competition in Kigali, Rwanda.

– The men’s World Cup also serves as the qualifying tournament for the 2024 Paris Olympics. Nigeria is in danger of missing both if it misses those qualifiers in Rwanda.

– The Nigeria men’s team is led by Sacramento Kings coach Mike Brown and upset the United States in a warm-up game ahead of last year’s Tokyo Olympics.

– The government’s decision last month to pull the teams from international competitions was fiercely criticized by players on the Nigeria teams but also drew reaction from figures in the NBA. Toronto Raptors president Masai Ujiri and Boston Celtics coach Ime Udoka, who are both of Nigerian descent, expressed their frustration with the leadership of Nigerian basketball.

– The sharpest criticism came from the men’s team, which tweeted early this month: “We hope someday Nigeria will be led by a government without corruption & greed. The future of Nigeria basketball is extremely bright and we are being held back by our leaders.”

– There has been a long history of problems at the Nigerian Basketball Federation, but the latest issues center on a leadership tussle after two separate presidents were elected to lead the NBBF in parallel elections. The sports ministry said the lifting of the ban depended on the NBBF honoring a commitment it gave to work with the ministry to resolve all its “issues.”

Star singer, Simi, has expressed wonder at why, she believes, the Nigerian government cannot see what she calls the big picture.

According to her, that big picture is about helping the people instead of continuing to steal and steal.
She noted in a post on Thursday:

”I do not, for the life of me, understand how the government does not see how they, we have so much much much more to gain if they actually fixed the country. Why are they blind to the big picture. How much can you steal? How much can you spend? Why can’t you help your people?”

The wife of another successful artiste, Adekunle Gold, recently released the video of her song titled ‘Woman’, in which she makes a strong case for women.

An Environmentalist, Mr Jeremiah Daudu, has urged the Nigerian Government to seek alternative options to single-use plastic bags, as it was detrimental to human health.
Daudu made the call in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN on Wednesday.
He said that single-use plastic bags have been known to pollute the environment, largely due to its inability to decompose correctly.
According to him, it is high time the country discard plastic bags and instead use the various options like paper, cloth or woven handmade bags.
He said wastes from plastic bags posed severe environmental dangers to human and animal health, saying it could impact the environment by causing littering and water drain blockages, if not correctly disposed of.
“The common phenomenon to see today is people using plastic bags to carry items like food and clothes bought from shops, it is ironic that even after knowing well that plastic bags can damage the environment, it is still commonly used.
“Plastic bags have become essential items in the litter system, it often results in several detrimental environmental effects like animal choking, pollution, blockage of channels, rivers and streams and disfigurement of the landscape.
“One of the most hazardous and unavoidable impacts of plastic bags on the environment is that it takes many years for them to decompose.
“In addition, to add insult to injury, when plastic bags perish under sunlight, they release a toxic substance into the air causing encompassing air pollution.
“The use of plastic bags may become one of the reasons for inroads into a cancerous disease because of the unregulated accumulation of the carcinogenic compounds.
“When these plastic bags are dumped indiscriminately into landfills worldwide, they not only occupy tons of hectares of land but bring out dangerous methane and carbon dioxide gases’’.
Daudu said investing in cloth bags was one of the easiest and most impactful alternatives, noting that there were economical, more sustainable, and may give peace of mind when worrying about plastic pollution with every use.
The environmentalist listed other viable options to include recycled paper, cotton and silicon bags as they had biodegradable materials and could be used repeatedly.
He expressed concerns over low awareness on impact of plastic pollution in the country, saying plastic bags have been seen to have affected agricultural production extensively.
“In a few cases, it has also been found that animals get tangled and drown in plastic bags, getting confused about food, animals sometimes consume plastic bags, which block their digestive processes that may lead to death.
“It is incredibly encouraging to know that some significant steps have been taken by international organisations and the international community in the light of few scientific investigations to reduce the ongoing consumption of plastic bags.
“It is high time plastic bags are prohibited globally and nationally, with an option of biodegradable items to tackle these gross and harmful issues.
According to UN Environment programme, single-use plastic product pollution is a serious issue that needs urgent and sustained action at all levels of society.
UNEP in its report on Addressing Single-Use Plastic Product- Using a Life Cycle Approach, encouraged member states to promote actions that leads to keeping resources at their highest value by replacing them with reusable products.

Controversial singer, Naira Marley, has continued his hard criticism of the Nigerian government.
Two days ago, he had attacked the government as he compared life in Dubai to what obtains in Nigeria.
On Tuesday again, he urged God to bring instant judgement on the rulers.
“God, forgive me, I’m sorry; ut we can’t wait till judgement day. Can you judge our government now please?”
Marley said.