ExxonMobil, in partnership with NBA Africa and PanAfricare, has raised over 8,000 young malaria champions and public health advocates across the country in the last ten years.
Lafiya360 reports that the 10th edition of the Power Forward, which started in 2013, is a youth development program that has provided life skills and public health awareness seminars, malaria prevention workshops and basketball development programming to more than 250,000 boys and girls across 40 schools in Abuja.
This year’s program includes a basketball tournament from June through September that featured 30 boys’ teams and 12 girls’ teams, with the top eight girls’ teams and top 10 boys’ teams participating in the playoffs and the top two girls’ and boys’ teams in the playoffs advancing to the Power Forward Finals.
The on-court competition, which takes place between September 19 to 21, 2023 features an alumni summit ahead of the championship games at the M.K.O. Abiola National Stadium on Sept. 21, and will engage 500 former Power Forward participants on the program’s impact, alongside a Jr. NBA clinic for 1,200 boys and girls ages 16 and under.
In his remarks, ExxonMobil Foundation President, Alvin Abraham said, “Over the past decade, our partnership with NBA Africa and PanAfricare on the Power Forward initiative has promoted youth development through sports, life skills, and public health education.”
NBA Africa Vice President and Country Head of Nigeria, Gbemisola Abudu said, “The initiative utilizes the transformative power of basketball to educate young people about public health awareness while instilling critical life skills such as teamwork and leadership, and we’re encouraged about the influence the program has had to date.”
PanAfricare Nigeria Country Director, Dr. Patrick Adah added, “Power Forward in its 10th year has contributed to raising over 8,000 malaria champions and public health advocates. The positive impact of the project has transformed the lives of youths in 40 schools in the Federal Capital Territory. Through an effective and collaborative partnership, the project has metamorphosed into a model program which we look to continue to expand.”