PRESIDENT Bola Tinubu has awarded national honours on Nigeria’s women’s basketball team, D’Tigress, following the team’s triumph at the 2025 FIBA Women’s AfroBasket tournament.
Each player also received a cash prize of $100,000.
At a reception held on Monday, August 4, at the Presidential Villa in Abuja, Tinubu conferred the national honour of Member of the Order of the Niger (OON) on all 12 players of the victorious squad.
He also announced the allocation of flat to the team.
The coaching crew members will also receive $50,000 each in recognition of their accomplishments.
D’Tigress clinched the AfroBasket championship after defeating Mali 78–64 in the final on Sunday, August 3, at the Palais des Sports Treichville in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire.
The victory earned the team its sixth overall title and a record fifth consecutive championship, further cementing Nigeria’s dominance in African women’s basketball.
The victory also secured Nigeria’s automatic qualification for the 2026 FIBA Women’s Basketball World Cup in Berlin.
D’Tigress had a perfect run in the tournament, topping Group D, defeating Cameroon in the quarterfinals, edging Senegal 75–68 in the semis, and sealing the title against Mali.
Amy Okonkwo and Ezinne Kalu were standout performers, with Nigeria also recording the highest offensive average in the tournament.
The reward for D’Tigress came just a week after the Super Falcons won their 10th Women’s Africa Cup of Nations (WAFCON) title in Casablanca.
Following that victory, Tinubu also honoured the football team with national awards, $100,000 each, and the allocation of three-bedroom apartments in the Renewed Hope Housing Scheme.
Mustapha Usman is an investigative journalist with the International Centre for Investigative Reporting. You can easily reach him via: musman@icirnigeria.com. He tweets @UsmanMustapha_M
They were given a plot of land each not apartments. Kindly correct. Nice report