FIBA, the governing body of basketball, on Wednesday released a communique stating it had given the Nigeria Basketball Federation (NBBF) till 30 November 2017, to resolve all pending leadership crises presently engulfing the NBBF.

According to the FIBA communique, the global body will communicate with the Mr. Ahmadu Musa Kida led board until the stated date above, but will NOT recognise any of the two warring factions, the other led by Mr. Tijani Umar.

The decision comes as a welcome relief to stakeholders of the game locally amid fears of an international ban, who have been torn between taking sides in a crisis between the two factions, who obviously have staked a claim to being the legitimately elected board, following two separate elections which held in Kano-produced Umar as winner, and Abuja-produced Kida as winner.

Apprehension had reached fever height about the participation of Nigeria at the forthcoming 2017 FIBA AfroBasket championship for Male and Female, holding respectively in Senegal-Tunisia and Mali, in the months of August and September.

The newly sworn-in Kida led-board, on Saturday, 22 July 2017, released a 29 woman list for camping exercise to simultaneously hold in Lagos, Nigeria and Florida, USA ahead of the AfroBasket women championship which dunks off in August.

D’Tigers of Nigeria, 2015 AfroBasket male champions, were also at risk of missing out on a title defence at the forthcoming championship, as the power tussle threatened to hinder the participation of the team, a situation which could have prevented them from attempting to defend their title.

Hopefully both parties will reach a common agreement on the burning matters arising, to sustain the immense growth and followership basketball has recorded in the country.

After all, when two elephants fight, it is the grass that suffers! Long live Nigeria Basketball.