Afrobasket (W) – Oderah Chidom: "I will no longer play for Nigeria"

The Nigerian basketball federation has been rocked by an unprecedented crisis. The NBBF even went as far as blocking the D-Tigress from taking part in the World Cup, having earned their place in fine style. On top of that come the problems over bonuses. All these headaches have pushed Oderah Chidom into a drastic decision. The African champion is indeed throwing in the towel.

"I'm officially done with the national team. I can't keep having this extra stress in my life. As a team, we try to choose our words very carefully so as not to offend anyone in the Federation", she says.

While national teams began their preparation for the women's Afrobasket, due to be held in Kigali, before July, Nigeria only began their training camp on 9 July. Worse still, the players found out about their call-ups on social media. One professional failing too many for the 27-year-old. "The trigger for me was seeing an Instagram post announcing open trials in three different places three weeks before the Afrobasket", Chidom, 27, said angrily. She went on: "I won't be taking part. I don't think it's professional at all. I consider myself a professional. And I don't think it's acceptable for me to pay to try out for something when I think I have a CV that speaks for itself."

“I have standards of how I conduct business at the professional level, and Nigeria continues to disappoint me”

Continental champion Oderah Chidom has quit the #Nigeria Women's basketball team at 28, citing a "lack of professionalism" from the 🏀Federation.pic.twitter.com/CfRsa84eaf

— Oluwashina Okeleji (@oluwashina) July 11, 2023

"The federation doesn't communicate"

For Oderah Chidom, the NBBF's communication is simply "appalling". "But personally, I'm done and my aim is to shine a light on the lack of professionalism within the Federation and on the fact that it has to change. It's really hard to have no sense of communication, no sense of professionalism. All our information comes from Twitter and social media", laments the Hayward, South Carolina native.

The former Angers centre adds: "We never know what's going on. We ask a lot of questions about simple things like when the camp will be, where it will be, who the coaches are, and we get answers like 'please be patient'. Everything we do is super last-minute. The level of professionalism is simply not up to the consistent output we produce."

The NBBF defend themselves

Many Nigerian players were reportedly set to boycott the team and the AfroBasket. Chidom maintains, however, that the players will take part in the competition. "We're not boycotting anything. We haven't even been invited. Nobody communicates with us. So it's frustrating. Of course, I'd love to keep playing for something bigger than myself and represent my country".

The Federation, for its part, defends itself. "We did the same thing in 2017 and we built a team that won the AfroBasket in 2019", said Musa Kida, president of the NBBF. He adds: "Not everybody will like the idea, but we are trying to make the best decisions for Nigerian basketball. We have a new coach and we want to rebuild the team. Of course, we'd like to see all the players turn up, but we can't force anyone to do so, and it's up to each player to make the decision that suits her best."

Two-time African champions Nigeria are chasing a third star in Kigali. The D-Tigresses have been drawn in Group D with DR Congo and Egypt.