This year’s edition of Olumide Oyedeji Basketball Camp will hold from August 22 to 27 at the Indoor Sports Hall of the National Stadium Surulere, Lagos.
The basketball camp which enters its 17th edition is one of the various programmes of the Olumide Oyedeji Youth Foundation channeled towards the development and empowerment of youth.
The camp is aimed at enriching the lives of Nigerian youths and to enlighten them about education and socio-development skills.
“We plan to use sports as a tool for the empowerment of young Nigerians. The basketball camp will help identify and develop young talents, instill discipline in them and teach them the importance of self-belief and team work,” Oyedeji said.
“As you are all aware, over the years, many of the camp alumni have become pro-athletes and some have become professionals in other industries,” the former Seattle Supersonics player said.
The former captain of the national basketball team, D’Tigers, also noted that over 40,000 youths have graduated from the camp while over 70 of them have represented Nigeria in various categories of national teams.
Among those that have passed through the camp are former captain of the Nigerian women’s basketball team, D’Tigress, Rashidat Sadiq; Chukwudi Maduabum who was drafted by the Denver Nuggets in 2011, rising star in high school basketball in the United States, Charles Bassey, who was a two-time MVP of the camp; Uju Ugoka, member of the D’Tigress to the Olympic Qualifying Tournament in France, NCAA Champion and Washington Wizards sign-on, Daniel Ochefu; Zenith Bank League MVP, Nkechi Akashili, and dance sensation, Kaffy.
The camp has also been held in Ibadan, Kano, Abuja, Osogbo, and Port-Harcourt in recent times.
Oyedeji, a member of the world basketball governing body, FIBA, said forms for the camp which will be available at the office of the Nigeria Basketball Federation (NBBF) is open to kids between the ages of 7 and 18 years, stressing that dates for Jos in Plateau State and other city to hold the camp will be announced later.
