The U-18 D’Tigers have emerged winners of the FIBA U-18 Afrobasketball Zone 3 Championship, which was held between July 6 to 11, 2026, at the Palais des Sports de Ouaga 2000 in Ougadougou, Burkina Faso’s capital.
Coach Ikima Michael’s team roared past the host team, Burkina Faso, by 100-54 points in the final to claim the regional trophy.
And with the victory, the boys will make their 12th appearance in the FIBA U18 AfroBasket to be staged in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire from August 5 to 16, 2026.
D’Tigers made a strong impression at the competition, winning four of their games played on a home-and-away format after Liberia failed to appear, thus seeing Nigeria, Burkina Faso and Benin Republic battle for honours.
Nigeria trounced Benin Republic in the first game by 96–35, beat Burkina Faso 98–54 in the second game and in the semi-finals defeated Benin Republic 101–43 and won by 100–54 in the final against Burkina Faso.
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Speaking with Sporting Tribune after the championship, a board member of the Nigeria Basketball Federation (NBBF) Ugo Udezue, who is also the chairman, sponsorship and marketing committee of the Federation, praised the players for the performance, saying the focus on grassroots and players development by the Federation is already yielding results as he charged the players to put national pride at the forefront while donning the Nigerian jersey.
He said, “It is very encouraging, and I think for us as a federation, we have an emphasis on grassroots and developing the young players. This shows that some of these things are coming to the way it’s being planned, and I think we’ll definitely expect more improved players, more time for preparation and planning and also to go and win the U18 African Championship.
“National pride is always a motivation first for personal drive but more than anything, they’ve so much to look out for. They have a chance to show that they have the ability to win and also bring glory to the fatherland.”
Another board member and North East representative, Alhaji Abba Kaka, while also commending the team, said the NBBF will continue to work with the National Sports Commission (NSC) to make Nigeria proud.
Kaka, who is also the chairman of Borno State Basketball Association, called on corporate organisations to give more support to sports in the country, saying that will have a lasting impact on young and budding players.
“You saw how the game was played. They are excellent young boys, all under 18. They’ve made Nigeria proud by not only winning the trophy here in Ougadougou, but they won all their four games. This is a dream team and we’re proud of them and we’ll continue as a Federation to support these youngsters in conjunction with the National Sports Commission.
“We also like to thank the sponsor, Mr Emmanuel Iza, the chairman of XE Jet, who provided his plane to bring these youngsters to Ougadougou and take them back.
“We’re calling on corporate organisations to actually follow suit because we cannot expect the government to always come in because government funds are limited. We’ve to sacrifice for Nigeria, for our youngsters so that we can give them hope,” Kaka stated.
Coach Michael assured that the team will work on its lapses and be at their best going to Abidjan next month. He commended the NBBF for their support and challenged his players to do their best always and make Nigeria proud.
Team captain, Okoh Thomas Agbo, said, “It’s a good one for us for representing Nigeria and a great achievement for us qualifying. We see this as a stepping stone going forward. Going back to camp, we need to work harder on the lapses we made and improve.
“Nigerians should expect more of what we just did in Ougadougou. We are going in with more energy and more teamwork from everybody, more synergy and more quickness. And the coach said we should play fast, so you should expect fast-paced basketball from us.”
To motivate the boys, a former Nigerian international, Samuel Oguche, announced a donation a sum of N100,000 to the players while Emmanuel Iza also donated N100,000 each to the players and members of the delegation.
