D’Tigress coach Rene Wakama has showered encomiums on President Bola Ahmed Tinubu for honouring the team with the sum of $100,000, a flat, and a national honour for winning the 2025 AfroBasket trophy.
The team was hosted at a presidential reception on Monday, held at the New Banquet Hall of the State House, by First Lady Oluremi Tinubu, with the wife of the Vice President, Hajia Nana Shettima, also in attendance.
Vice President Kashim Shettima, who represented President Tinubu at the event, awarded each player $100,000, a flat, and a national honour: Officer of the Order of the Niger (OON) while the technical crew each received $50,000.
Wakama, who became the first woman to win back-to-back AfroBasket titles as coach, described the reward as ‘life changing’ while expressing gratitude to President Tinubu.
She said: “We’re so thankful, so, so thankful to Your Excellency, President Tinubu.
“This is life-changing for some of these girls, life-changing for us. This is what we need — Renewed Hope. We’re grateful for this and we look forward to even more support in the future.
“It was easy representing Nigeria — a country and sport that we love deeply. When you love your country, your teammates, and the game, everything falls into place.”
The Chicago Sky assistant coach is confident that her achievement would inspire women to take leadership positions in sports.
Wakama said: “It breaks my heart, but I know change has started with me. To be a woman and get an opportunity to coach at this level is a good sign for others. I’m thankful to the NBBF president for trusting me to lead this team and do my job.
“I hope I’m not the last, and I hope I’ve inspired other women to take bold steps into coaching.”
Under Wakama, The D’Tigress became the first African team, male or female, to qualify for the quarterfinals of basketball at the 2024 Olympics after beating Canada 79 -70.
She was awarded the Best Coach of the tournament by FIBA for guiding the Nigerian team to a historic outing at the Paris 2024 Olympics.
The D’Tigress won the FIBA AfroBasket for the fifth consecutive time, a few weeks after the Super Falcons won the WAFCON for a record 10 times.
Nigeria became the first country in Africa to hold both continental titles in football, and basketball at the same time.
