President Bola Tinubu has joined other basketball enthusiasts to applaud D’Tigress 32-year-old head coach Rena Wakama following the team’s laudable outing at the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris, which led to her being voted the best coach of the Women’s Basketball Tournament, an honour President Tinubu said was well deserved.
This was contained in a statement by his spokesman, Ajuri Ngelale, on Monday.
“President Tinubu states that the recognition of Ms. Wakama, 32, by the International Basketball Federation (FIBA), further accents her well-established leadership qualities and dedication to excellence”, Ngelale said.
“The President commends the team, the coach, and all those who played a part in the unprecedented feat at the Olympics, enjoining them not to relent or become crestfallen but to remain resilient and determined for greatness”, he added.
Several basketball enthusiasts corroborated the president’s commendation of Wakama and her charges in the comment section of the post on X (formerly Twitter).
Mall Galib wrote, “Congratulations, coach Rena Wakama. What a well-deserved honour as the best coach of the Paris 2024 Olympic Basketball tournament”.
“Yesssss!!! Well deserved. She surpassed everyone’s expectations for a very young coach in her first international tournament. Very proud of her, stated Ajayi.
Misan Adesanya wrote, “Bravo!!! Well done, Coach! Great to know there was a bright spot in the Nigerian Olympic foray this year. Keep going, team!”
Another X Obinna agreed that the award was well deserved.
“Very well deserved; she is the proper definition of beauty and brain! Congratulations, Rena, better luck next time!”
“We didn’t win any medals, but our female basketball team won many hearts”, 9ja Scouser stated.
Imole Adeyinka wrote, “Congratulations, coach Rena. Outstanding performance from you and the girls. You made us proud”.
While Team Nigeria failed to win a medal, Ololade takes consolation from Wakama’s achievement.
“This is more than a gold medal. It’s worth more. The recognition is global. Congrats to Nigeria”.
Emmanuel Onine wrote, “This is the only resemblance of medal Nigeria has in this Olympics”.
Carter, a fan of Tulane University where Wakama is the assistant coach, tweeted, “Glad to have her at Tulane University”.
Shafi’i Hamidu wrote, “For a well-deserved award at the Paris Olympics. Congratulations”.
D’Tigress exceeded expectations by making it to the quarterfinals of the tournament—a feat no other African team has achieved, with their splendid run ended by the United States.
The African champions’ outing in Paris was the most significant performance by an African team in history at the Olympic Basketball Tournaments, with Wakama the main protagonist of the unprecedented feat.
Despite being tagged underdogs, Nigeria were sensational at the tournament, winning the hearts of basketball fans following their victories over Australia and Canada.
Regardless of their ranking as the 12th best team in the world, the lowest among the participating teams at the tournament, they gave the US—the eventual gold winners—a run for their money, scoring more than 73 points in consecutive games for the first time at the Olympics. Their 26 points in the fourth quarter of the game are the most the USA have ever conceded in the last quarter of a game in the
competition.
