Philip Shaibu Supports Mark D’Ball Project for Basketball Growth

The Director General of the National Institute for Sports (NIS), Comrade Philip Shaibu, has thrown his weight behind basketball promoter Igoche Mark, urging him to stay the course in his push to grow the sport in Nigeria.

Shaibu delivered the message in Abuja on Monday as he received Mark, who visited the institute to motivate basketball coaches currently in training under his sponsorship. The session was less about ceremony and more about conviction: Nigeria’s basketball future, they both agreed, will be built in classrooms and gyms like this, long before the bright lights of any arena.

“I am told that you are sponsoring quite a number of them, and I am confident that this partnership will yield results,” Shaibu told Mark, after interacting with some of the trainees. He thanked the Mark D’Ball initiator for his sustained investment in the game and then issued a clear challenge: do not stop now.

“I thank you for what you have done for basketball, and I plead with you: do not give up on basketball,” the NIS boss said, framing Mark’s work as a long-term project rather than a short-term intervention.

For Mark, the visit doubled as a progress check and a statement of intent. He first came to the NIS in 2022. Returning two years later, he said the changes at the institute were obvious and, to him, predictable.

“We were here in 2022, but coming here today and seeing the level of transformation, I am not surprised,” he said, linking the renewed look of the NIS to Shaibu’s track record in Edo State, where the DG previously made his mark in sports development. “Having seen what you did in Edo, I know that excellence has always been part of you. With people like you in this country, there is hope because you turn things around.”

The heart of the visit, though, sat on the training floor. The coaches Mark is backing are not rookies to the game; many are former players now attempting the difficult transition from court to touchline. That shift, Mark stressed, cannot be done on reputation alone.

“I came to encourage those undergoing training. They were once players, and now they are transitioning into coaching,” he said. “Without proper certification, you cannot function on the international scene because you cannot sit on the bench if you are not certified.”

In a country rich with raw talent but still fighting for structure and stability in its basketball ecosystem, the message from Abuja was blunt: passion is no longer enough. The next phase demands education, accreditation and partnerships that endure beyond a single season or tournament.

For now, Mark D’Ball is paying for seats in the classroom instead of seats in the stands. If the collaboration with the NIS holds and the coaches in training make the leap, those quiet investments could decide who leads Nigeria’s teams when the next generation of players steps onto the floor.