President Bola Tinubu has conferred national honours and generous rewards on Nigeria’s female basketball team, D’Tigress, following their remarkable victory at the 2025 FIBA Women’s AfroBasket Championship.
Each member of the team received the national honour of Officer of the Order of the Niger (OON), alongside a monetary reward of $100,000 and a flat. The team’s technical crew, led by Coach Rena Wakama, was also not left out, as each member was awarded $50,000.
The honours were presented during a reception held Monday evening at the Presidential Villa in Abuja, in celebration of the team’s historic fifth consecutive AfroBasket championship title.
The D’Tigress defeated Mali 78-64 in the final, which saw them claim their seventh AfroBasket title overall and extend their unbeaten streak in the tournament to 29 matches since 2015.
The final game was tightly contested in the early stages, with both teams going into halftime tied at 41–41. Nigeria, however, pulled away in the third quarter with superior defence and sharp shooting.
Key players such as Amy Okonkwo, Ezinne Kalu, Promise Amukamara, Victoria Macaulay, and Musa stepped up, with Kalu scoring 20 points and Okonkwo adding 19, helping the team maintain momentum through the final stretch.
To reach the final, Nigeria overcame Senegal 75-68 in a gripping semi-final clash widely considered the “final before the final” due to its intensity and high stakes.
The reward follows a similar gesture by President Tinubu last week when he honoured the Super Falcons for their record 10th Women’s Africa Cup of Nations win.