Mr Franklin Abasi, the Chief Executive Officer of Franklin Abasi Sports and Educational Foundation (FOSE), has called for joint efforts to address unemployment and youth restiveness in the country.
He made the call in an interview on the sideline of a two-day Elite Basketball Camp, organised by FOSE foundation for youths in Abuja.
He said that the goal of the foundation was to encourage and support education and sports development among youths with a view to addressing rising crime rate.
“Our goal and mission are to educate the kids through sports; We want partnerships with Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) and government to create opportunities for these players.
“This can help get rid of cyber crimes, terrorism and other vices through sports and education and give the youth opportunity to excel through sports and education,” he said.
Abasi said that in the inaugural camp, there was a total of 50 players, comprising 40 boys and 10 girls.
He said that the camp brought the best basketball coaches in the country to teach young players who require skills to excel.
According to him, he had the opportunity to play basketball overseas and has seen the facilities and system in United States, United Kingdom, Germany and Asia which I want to replicate back home.
“With these facilities, I see future stars of the NBA, future doctors, future lawyers, future governors and ministers.
“We are teaching them life skills and empowering them and we want partnerships with NGOs, and governments to create opportunities for them.
“On the long run, we want to award scholarships to them and offer them the opportunity to excel through sports and education.”
The head coach of the camp, Mr Stanley Gumut, stressed the need to keep regular camps for the young players to always refresh their minds, saying that there are a lot of talents among them.
He called on all stakeholders to emulate FOSE and join in creating opportunities for young Nigerians through sports and education.
Gumut said that the players were taught skills like shooting, ball handling, positioning and how best to use the skills during games.
“There is corporate social responsibility for every organisation, if you cannot do it yourself, you should be able to align yourself with those who have the initiative so these things can happen.
“Our youths, other than comping to play basketball, are being taken off the streets where there are lots of hazards and peer group pressures that those on the basketball courts do not get.
“Everyone should learn a trade, apart from going to school; learn a trade and be a master at something like welding, mechanic, carpentry, be an engineer and an accountant, and so on.
“It is important to have a skill that one masters, as sports is time based and these skills will carry you when you retire from the game. That’s my advice for those who want to play.
“Make them understand that after a certain time, the game will go and when that time comes, what happens to you?
“We can put the blame on the sports federations but the blame should partly go to the parents and guardians of these kids and their mentors,” he said.
Henry Gideon had this to say: “I learnt so many things, especially how to space the floor, in my game before, I play jam packed, I play close and tight but with this camp, I now know how to open the floor and stay wide open.
“To be a small forward, you have to stay on the block, I did not know any of these before; this has improved my game, in the next 10 years, I want to be in the NBA and I am making efforts to achieve this,” he said.
Also, Esther SomnyJames called on other corporate organizations to support girls develop in their sports careers.
“FOSE foundation has really helped us, especially the students. Many other organizations do have the opportunity. And FOSE has been different and encouraging athletes in pushing our game and career.
“Females have more opportunities to play abroad at the highest level than males, we have passion, corporate Organizations should come out and help us push our dreams and goals,” she said.
Another player, Cecilia Aleje, said “I feel good, I learnt a lot, though I have learnt some before, it has added to the ones I’ve learnt; I learnt how to space the floor, how to break off the screen, how to play good defense.
“I want to say a big thank you to FOSE foundation for giving us the opportunity to learn more of what we have learnt, I thank Franklin, he is the host and I thank him for organizing the camp for us.
