Coach OBJ will be hosted as the keynote speaker at the African Basketball Convention
Our Blog
The book is a masterpiece an easy-to-assimilate description of the life journey of Oliver (Babatunde, Bala, Bassey) Berdeen Johnson, popularly called Coach OBJ. It is a vivid expression of the uniqueness of OBJ: a rare legend, God-fearing, extremely humble, cherished treasure and a hero in Basketball; whose immeasurable curiosity propelled him to leave his comfort zone in the United States of America (USA) against all odds to fulfill his desire to see the world beyond the USA and to make his mark positively wherever he found himself.
To get (purchase) your copy, kindly click here
By Vincent Ufuoma On Nov 20, 2020
Eight American citizens of Nigerian descent have been drafted into the professional National Basketball Association of the United States on Wednesday.
This was made known by the NBA on its Twitter handle on Wednesday.
The annual draft sees NBA teams choose from the best young talents across the United States.
The Nigerians are Precious Achiuwa, Udoka Azubuike, Isaac Okoro, Onyeka Okongwu, Daniel Oturu, Zeke Nnaji, Desmond Bane and Jordan Nwora.
Precious Achiuwa
He was picked by the Miami Heat. The 21-year-old player was born in Nigeria and grew up in Port Harcourt.
According to the BBC, he said he had dreamt that one day he would end up playing for a great organization.
“My hope was to end up in a great organisation, and thank God my prayers got answered and I’m part of a great organisation,” Achiuwa said.
“I watched the NBA Finals, and thankful that they’re welcoming me to Miami. I think I can add a lot to the table, like add a lot of aggression and grittiness.”
Udoka Azubuike
Like Precious, he was born in Lagos before moving to the US. The 21-year-old centre will be playing for the Utah Jazz.
He said he was “so excited to play alongside Rudy (Gobert)”
“A defensive specialist, that’s mostly what I did at Kansas. I had a similar role to affect the game defensively. So I’m excited to learn from him.”
Isaac Okoro
Isaac was born in Atlanta, Georgia to Nigerian parents. The 19-year-old small forward was part of the USA’s winning team at the 2018 Under-17 Basketball World Cup in Argentina. He was chosen by Cleveland Cavaliers.
“It feels great to be the first Nigerian in this draft to be drafted,” he said after being picked.
“It’s also just a blessing. My mom always tells me to keep that Nigerian pride. Even though I wasn’t born in Nigeria, I still got Nigerian blood. So it’s just having that on my shoulders.”
Onyeka Okongwu
He was born in California to Nigerian parents.
The 19-year-old shooting guard, who has been selected by the Atlanta Hawks, was a high school teammate of third pick LaMelo Ball at Chino Hills in California.
“I want to win a championship. That should be everyone’s goal, to win a championship that everyone wants to win,” Okongwu insisted.
“Myself, I just want to be able to get better, be able to be the best that I can be, continue to work hard, have a great work ethic.”
Daniel Oturu
He was born to Nigerian parents who are pentecostal ministers in Minnesota, with his father Francis a former table tennis player for Nigeria.
The 21-year-old, set to end up at the LA Clippers after he was originally picked by the Minnesota Timberwolves, who immediately traded him for the New York Knicks before being moved on again.
Zeke Nnaji
The 19-year-old Zeke was born to a Nigerian father and American mother. He played college basketball for the Arizona Wildcats and was picked by the Denver Nuggets.
“I’ve been working a lot during these quarantine times, and I feel like I’ve made a lot of improvements,” Nnaji explained.
“I’ve added 20 pounds of muscle. I’ve really improved my jump shot and shooting the three-pointer well.
“I feel great. My body feels explosive. I feel quick. I’m just excited to do whatever I can to help our team win.”
Desmond Bane
The 22-year-old, who will be playing for Boston Celtics, was raised in Indiana with a Nigerian father and American mother.
“You know, I feel like I bring a mature approach. I bring a mature, consistent approach, both on and off the floor, and I think that’ll be beneficial early on,” he said about the prospect of playing in the NBA.
Jordan Nwora
Jordan, who was born to a Nigerian father Alexander and American mother Amy, was part of the Nigerian team that played at the 2019 Men’s World Cup.
The 22-year-old is a member of the US’ senior men’s basketball team, otherwise known as D’Tigers.
His father was Nigeria’s head coach at the World Cup (now the country’s assistant coach) and the duo became the first Nigerian son and father to be part of a Nigerian national team side at the same time.
Jordan is also Nigeria’s highest scorer in a single match after registering 36 points in a 2019 World Cup qualifier in Lagos.
“To be honest, I didn’t think I’d be in the position I’m in today. I’ve come a long way since high school. I didn’t think I’d be able to play at a level like Louisville,” he said before the draft.
https://www.icirnigeria.org/meet-eight-nigerians-who-made-2020-united-states-nba-draft/
Source International Centre for investigative Reporting (ICIR) News
Profit and Win – “The BB4P system for grass-roots youth development and job creation” by Coach OBJ and BB4P Officials is a book on how to establish and operate a Basketball for peace program successfully (a step by step guide detailed by the founder of the program).
[pff-paystack id=”1563″]
BB4P PROPOSAL FOR SUSTAINABILITY AND DEVELOPMENT
BB4P’s purpose was, and still is, to use the Game of Basketball to attract “at-risk” Youth away from violent conflicts.
BB4P’s concept design is to:
Designate specific Basketball facilities within volatile areas as Peace Zones whereby no type of violent behaviour will be tolerated and where Youth from all ‘backgrounds, ethnicities, religions’ assemble daily for practices and other community development activities for Peaceful co-existence.
Encourage Saturday competition on each Peace Zone or between Peace Zones and expand the Peace Zone to a larger community Peace Zone (Centre) that will include many other Sports and Community events..
Establish Peace Clubs in a minimum of three (3) Secondary Schools surrounding each Peace Zone to sensitize their fellow-students about PEACE and to engage in Community Out-Reach Projects for PEACE.
Support and award verifiable success stories of BB4P participants on a competitive basis.
Encourage “BUY-INS” from every source interested in being part of the Nigerian Peace Zone Network.
BB4P has transformed many violent prone individuals into Peace Makers (Facilitators).
The First National BB4P Peace Zone and Peace Club Championship (October – December, 2006) employed 1770 Youth from 36 Peace Zones plus officials for their active participation in the three (3) months championship (see our BB4P Brochure ‘The Journey thus far’).
If BB4P could host this National BB4P Championship twice a year more youth would be employed, many more would be encouraged to go to school while others would use their skills to join professional basketball teams and other Peace facilitating organizations.
Peace Zones are being encouraged to register as NGOs thus making them sites for growth to provide more opportunities for our Youth in their various communities. BB4P believes that USAID/IFESH/CALM should award ten (10) to twenty (20) scholarships of N5,000 – N15,000 to promising youths attached to each Peace Zone. The future success stories of these award winning youth will provide adequate skills training that will outshine any amount of concept papers on youth skill acquisition training that IFESH could ever request, plus the cost of implementation will be financially far less.
The success of BB4P so far leads us to believe that sustainability is inevitable as more individual, agencies such as government and private businesses ‘buy-in’, thus providing additional employment for “at-risk” youth, reducing violent conflicts, increasing community development as the network of BB4P Peace Zones and Peace Clubs grow.
Coach O. B. Johnson
BB4P Program Manager
THE RELEVANCE OF BB4P PEACE ZONES AND PEACE CLUBS
- As of now, there are not enough Peace Zones or Peace Clubs established in the 5 Targeted States, Cities, LGA or Communities that have been affected by ‘violent conflict’ to sustain a Community based Peace Initiative.
- Peace Zones are Community based ‘safe places’ where the Communities gather daily to enjoy Basketball and Peace making activities.
- Peace Zones are used as ‘sites’ to identify Youth for more ‘training’ by USAID/IFESH/CALM & BB4P
- Peace Clubs are sensitizing ‘students’ about and for Peace and through their various ‘out-reach projects’ sensitizing their communities about the need for PEACEFUL Co-existence.
- Peace Zones are registering with their Local Government Areas, or States as NGOs and ‘co-operatives’ to initiate economically viable activities for success.
- The BB4P “Fund Raising Cards” gives each Peace Zone and Peace Club a means to acquire some funds for their activities.
- BB4P Peace Clubs have been recognized by the Plateau State Commissioner of Education to the extent that Peace Clubs have been made compulsory in all the Plateau State secondary schools. We believe every State should follow-suit.
- The name BB4P has attracted a lot of attention both in the media and the Basketball Community. If exploited to its full potential of having Bi-annual State and National BB4P ‘Competitions’ many more Youth stand to profit from their ‘sweat’.
- The most relevant factor about the Peace Zones as expressed by the “Founders” is the networking that should make every Peace Zone to compete against another Peace Zone, a minimum of once in every month.
- The BB4P Nigeria Network is now made-up of 5 States with requests from 6 more States to join.
- The BB4P Africa Network is yet to be formed but it is our desire to see it established in the near future because PEACE must reign and communities affected by violent conflict must find ways to heal.
10 PEACE ZONES AND 30 PEACE CLUBS (minimum) PER STATE
Our experiences thus far (4 years) have convinced us that a minimum of 3 BB4P Peace Zones each in 3 different Cities or Towns in each of the BB4P States are necessary for growth, development, sustainability and for the ‘message of PEACE to be spread continuously at the ‘grassroots’ level in the various violent prone Communities. Obviously, this will encourage more ‘buy-ins’ in these States and other States to join BB4P and establish their own Peace Zones.
Already the Plateau State Commissioner of Education has made it compulsory for Peace Clubs to be formed in Schools in his State and BB4P is only having a presents in 2 Cities (Jos & Shendam/Yelwa). This is indeed another ‘testimony’ of the success of the BB4P Project and future possibilities.
It is our belief that the Nigeria BB4P Network and the future African BB4P Network of Peace Zones when fully functional, with consistent Competitions will provide many opportunities for our African Youth to prosper while helping to bring and maintain PEACE in our ‘so called’ poverty, war-torn AFRICA.
PEACE
A FEW CAPTIONS ON WHAT THE PAPERS SAY ABOUT US:
- “Niger Delta Crisis Basketball to the Rescue” (Sat. Champion 17, Dec., 2005; pg. 44)
- “Basketball for Peace Initiative” (The Pointer, Wed. Mar. 1, 2006; p.21)
- “Coach Pledges to lift Standard of Basketball” (The Pointer, Mon. Mar. 6, 2006; p.22)
- “CALM solicits assistance from government, others” (Pointer, Mon. Mar.6, ‘06; p. 23)
- “Basketball League Starts in Warri” (The Pointer, Mon. Mar. 7, 2006; p.23)
- “Basketball for Peace thrills youths in Delta” (The Guardian, Thur. Mar. 16, 2006, p. 95)
- “Basketball for Peace Begins PortHarcourt” (The Tide, Sun. April 16, 2006, pg.28)
- “IFESH/CALM concludes Basketball for Peace in Warri” (Delta Voice, Apr.16-24 ‘06 back pg.)
- “America invades Warri” (Warri Chronicle, Vol. 4, No. 10 May 2006 Back page)
- “Basketball for Peace Resumes July 8th” (Leadership, July 4th 2006 pg. 36)
- “Basketball for Peace Calls for Sponsorship” (Warri Chronicle July 2006, Vol. 4 No. 12 pg. 18)
- “USAID spends $8M for youth development in Nigeria” (Daily Triumph Mon. July 24, 2006, back pg.)
- “BB4P construct 8 Basketball Courts” (Daily Triumph Tue. July 25, 2006, back pg.)
- “BB4P Zonal Matches start Today” (NN Weekly Sat. 12, Aug. 2006 pg 30)
- “BB4P’s contribution to Peace using basketball” (NNN Thur. Aug. 17., 2006; pg. 31)
- “BB4P Hands Over Basketball Courts to KDSG Today” (NNN Sat. Aug. 19., 2006; pg. 30)
- “Basketball for Peace goes to Cameroon” (Daily Trust Tue. Aug. 22, 2006 pg. 46)
- “BB4P goes international” (NNN Wed., Aug. 2006; pg. 23).
- “5 States Battle for Honours in BB4P Competition” (NNN Sat. 16 Dec. 2006; pg. 30)
- “Jos Peace Zone emerges BB4P champions” (NNN Mon. 18 Dec. 2006; pg. 30)
- “Don’t neglect Rule 1 of Basketball, OBJ urges coaches” (NNN Tue. 19, Dec. 2006; pg. 31)
- “Almajiris Football League Underway” (NNN Wed. 20, Dec., 2006; pg. 30).
Recent Comments