Rene Wakama’s classy moment

AMIDST the social and economic morass engulfing the country, Team Nigeria stormed the Paris 2024 Olympics Games with a vow to put smiles on the faces of sports-loving Nigerians, but in the end, it only had a harvest of tears. Essentially flushing the N9 billion approved by the Presidency for the games down the drain, Team Nigeria’s 88 athletes fumbled and wobbled, recording Nigeria’s worst performance since London 2012. Notable medal prospects, including Tobi Amusan, Odunayo Adekuoroye, Favour Ofili, Blessing Oborodudu, Ese Brume and Haruna Quadri, huffed and puffed, but the medals never came. And, when Hannah Reuben, the last athlete left to salvage a medal for Nigeria, lost her second round fight in the women’s freestyle wrestling 76 by 5-2 to Mongolia’s Davannasan Armah Enkh, the desolation and gloom that enveloped Nigeria was complete. But wait: there was a team called D’Tigress, and a coach called Rene Wakama…

What did Wakama do? What Wakama now typically does. The 32-year-old coach, daring bookmakers and their orthodoxy—D’Tigress entered Paris 2024 as the least ranked team—guided the African champions to an array of historical achievements in Paris, thus saving Nigeria’s blushes. Taking on Australia, at that moment the world’s Number 3 team, Wakama caused the world to notice the fresh breeze in Nigeria’s female basketball. With Ezinne Kalu (19 points with five rebounds and five assists), Promise Amukamara (14 points and nine assists), Amy Okonkwo (13 points and nine assists) and Murjanatu Musa (11 points and seven rebounds) being literally in a killer mood, Nigeria claimed a historic 75-62 win over the Aussies in its first Group B women’s basketball match at the Pierre-Mauroy Stadium in Lille. That was its first Olympic win after the 68-64 triumph over South Korea in Athens 2004. The message was clear: D’Tigress meant business.

Up against the hosting team, France, D’Tigress lost the next game by 54-75 points, but then squared off against the world’s Number 5 team, Canada, outscoring it by 79-70 points. Although the first quarter was tied at 18 points each, Ezinne Kalu (21 points) and Pallas Kunaiyi-Akpanah, who had seven rebounds to lead that section, and Promise Amukamara, who had six assists, led D’Tigress to a remarkable 208 points in two of their three group games. And when the campaign eventually came to an end against the world’s best ranked team, the United States, which ran away with an 88-74 points victory, the steely resolve of the green-white-green ladies had not gone unnoticed.

And to cap off her impressive outing, the International Basketball Association (FIBA) named Wakama the best women’s basketball coach of the Paris 2024 Olympics games on its official X account on Sunday, August 11. For Wakama, it was indeed a great moment recalling her exploits on the continental turf. When, on August 5, 2023, D’Tigress emerged champions of Africa for the fourth time following their 84-74 win over Senegal in the final of the 2023 FIBA Women’s AfroBasket tournament held in Kigali, Rwanda,  the world took notice of Wakama’s genius. Ahead of the games, bookmakers had given the team unenthusiastic ratings because of the large number of rookies, but D’Tigress ended up becoming only the second team after Senegal to clinch four consecutive AfroBasket titles. With that feat, Wakama became the first female coach to win the competition since its inception in 1966, a remarkable record considering the fact that the Raleigh, North Carolina-born coach of Okrika, Rivers State descent was appointed less than a month before the competition kicked off in Rwanda.

As we noted at the time, if anything, Rwanda 2023 showed that Nigeria typically has a crop of stars that can hold their own against any team in the world provided that there are appropriate sporting facilities and the requisite technical support. With Wakama’s resilience, tactical ability and hard work at Paris 2024, Nigerians indeed have cause for cheer. To say the very least, Wakama’s achievements at the games cannot be underestimated. At only 32 years old, she has earned global recognition as a fantastic coach, providing yet another example of a model that Nigerian youth can look up to. It is a great tribute to her genius that in spite of the gloom that seemed to hobble Team Nigeria at Paris 2024, she was able to rouse her team to record impressive victories over top-ranked basketball teams, creating an African record in the process. The logical corollary of this feat is that ahead of the next Olympic Games, D’Tigress can aim at bettering their Paris 2024 record and further strengthening their position in world basketball. It is true that the team’s continental success is yet to be replicated on the global stage, but it is also true that it did not leave Paris 2024 in disgrace.

We salute Coach Rene Wakama’s feat and wish her greater success in future championships. We are proud of her.

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