The Minister of Youth and Sports Development Mr. Sunday Dare has once again emphasized the importance of developing other sports through a private-public partnership.

The Minister made this assertion at the final of the Dr & Mr. D. K Olukoya Women Basketball Championship which held on Sunday in Lagos.

According to the Minister, "Basketball is on the ascendance in Nigeria and nothing confirms that more than the fact that the Tigress and the Tigers will be at the Olympics. This is another great basketball game and the fact that these young ones have exhibited so many skills and an abundance of talents gives me hope that the future of basketball in Nigeria is very bright especially when you start from the grass root.

"When you catch them young from 15,16,17,18 you will realise that the future of both male and female Basketball is indeed very bright"

In the forthcoming Olympics, the Tigers and Tigress will be representing Nigeria as well as Africa and we look forward to an excellent performance. Team Nigeria's first batch to Tokyo leaves on July 5th, while the second batch departs on July 13th. The last batch joins them on July 19th," he said.

The Minister assured that Team Nigeria was properly motivated to perform well in Tokyo, even as the athletes are well guided to adhere to the covid-19 Protocol and to also exhibit a high sense of responsibility and discipline during the games.