Olawale Ajimotokan in Abuja
The 10th edition of Power Forward youth development programme, which uses basketball to teach health literacy and life skills to secondary school students, has been tipped off in Abuja, Nigeria by ExxonMobil, NBA Africa and PanAfricare.
The season began with a basketball clinic for 200 youths aged 13-16 at the Africa International College Kaura.
It was attended by the Manager, Media and Communications for ExxonMobil affiliate companies in Nigeria, Oge Udeagha; NBA Africa Vice-President and Country Head for Nigeria, Gbemisola Abudu; PanAfricare Nigeria Country Director, Dr. Patrick Adah and Nigerian former NBA player and 2015 FIBA AfroBasket champion, Olumide Oyedeji.
In advance of the season tip-off, NBA Academy Africa Associate Technical Director, Joe Touomou, led a junior NBA coaching clinic for 45 coaches in the Power Forward programme.
Since it was launched in 2013, the Power Forward programme has reached more than 200,000 youths and their communities in Abuja through life skills and public health awareness seminars, malaria prevention workshops, and basketball programming.
“For the past 20 years, ExxonMobil’s Malaria Initiative has provided more than $37.4 million (over N15 billion) in cash grants to partners working to develop community-based solutions in Nigeria,” said Chairman and Managing Director of ExxonMobil affiliate companies in Nigeria, Richard Laing.
He said ExxonMobil’s Malaria Initiative works with non-profit partners and leading global health organisations to advance progress against the disease in malaria-endemic countries by supporting malaria education and awareness, improving access to tools for prevention, diagnosis and treatment, strengthening health infrastructure and advancing research and innovation.
He added that the initiative has continued to support malaria prevention and control programmes in Nigeria, which currently account for more than one quarter of the global burden of the disease.
Abudu said NBA Africa will continue to focus on youth empowerment and development and use the transformative power of the game to equip the youth with the skills necessary to succeed on the court and in life.
She described the Power Forward programme as a core component of NBA Africa’s broader efforts to make basketball more accessible in Nigeria, adding that they look forward to continuing to work with their partners to expand their impact in communities across the country.
“The key thing has been that we have been able to reach over 200,000 children in Abuja in the past 10 years. Several of the students who have gone through the programme are now in universities in different parts of the world playing basketball. We have some doing incredible things and that is how you measure impact. You measure impact by seeing you are able to instill the skills you wanted to impact,” Abudu said in reference to the benefits of the programme in the last 10 years.
Oyedeji, a former captain of the Tigers, hailed ExxonMobil, NBA Africa and PanAfricare Africa for using the programme to advance the lots of Nigerian youths in the last decade.
“You have to understand that this event is not just about basketball. We are talking about education, and health wise and you have seen a lot of these kids in colleges and high schools in the US, Canada, UK and Japan as well. I give kudos to PanAfricare, ExxonMobil and NBA Africa for what they have been doing in the past 10 years. The result is right there. You have seen a couple of these talented student athletes, who have done well beyond basketball,” Oyedeji said.
Adah noted that Power Forward, which was launched in 10 schools in 2013 and now across 40 secondary schools in Abuja, uses basketball to teach health literacy, including malaria prevention and personal hygiene and life skills such as leadership, respect and responsibility.
“The youth in the project have continued to sensitise their peers and community members on the prevention of diseases of public health importance. They have embraced innovative ways to spread these messages, such as through social media or radio talk shows,” said Adah.
Photo: L- R: PanAfricare Nigeria Country Director, Dr. Patrick Adah; Manager, Media and Communications, ExxonMobil Affiliate Companies in Nigeria, Oge Udeagha; NBA Africa Vice President and Country Head for Nigeria, Gbemisola Abudu; and former NBA player and 2015 FIBA AfroBasket champion, Olumide Oyedeji at the launch of the 10th Season of “Power Forward” in Abuja.
