The Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Pamodzi, Chief Mike Itemuagbor, is excited by the details of the deal on the table for the Nigeria Basketball Federation and NNPC Limited. Itemuagbor, who has been a key player in Nigerian and international sports marketing, says the package is the answer to Nigeria’s basketball growth, especially in the domestic scene.
Itemuagbor, who spoke on the deal by midweek, said, “The very good aspect of this package is that the players and teams are the real beneficiaries. When we get this through, players and teams will celebrate it.
“We can have a system where the teams earn good money and have greater opportunities for further marketing for themselves. Basketball is a huge platform across the world, and that is the way it should be in Nigeria. Apart from football, I don’t see any other sport that can outshine basketball here, and that is the understanding we are all leveraging on and working with.”
Itemuagbor, who is using a sister company to Pamodzi, M4S, to package the basketball deal and some other events, has therefore asked all basketball stakeholders in the country to put their passion towards things that will engender the growth and development of the game in Nigeria.
“The plan to get NNPC on board should be embraced by everyone who truly loves basketball in Nigeria. This deal will help the league here, and when we get this right, many other things will follow.
“I plead with everyone to see the bigger picture and support this. My company is only interested in the game and not power, and so my concern is for us all to help clean up the image and make the system very attractive to sponsors.
“Basketball is super fun and cash-yielding in the USA, and we can replicate such here.”
Stakeholders are hopeful that by the end of the first quarter of 2026, a lot will have been concluded with the new deal, which will be the biggest-ever in the history of Nigerian basketball.
