Wheelchair basketballers preparing for the 2017 Victor Ochei championship in Lagos.
The 2017 edition of the Victor Ochei International Wheelchair Basketball Championship will hold from October 22 to 28, organisers of the event have said.
For the past six years, the Delta State House of Assembly former Speaker has solely funded the Victor Ochei International Wheelchair Basketball Championship, producing many stars for the country. He has also sponsored Nigerian wheelchair basketball teams to various international competitions, including the Rio 2016 Olympics Games qualifiers in Algeria, where the country fielded both male and female teams.
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The dwindling economy situation in the country notwithstanding, Ochei says he would continue to stick to his promise of using the wheelchair basketball to change the lives of many physically-challenged people in Nigeria and some African countries.
According to the President, Wheelchair Basketball Federation of Nigeria (WBFN), Bukola Olopade, the 2017 edition will witness the introduction of wheelchair basketball challenge.
“The wheelchair basketball challenge is one of the several new things we are going to introduce in this year’s edition. It will carry its own prize money. We will hold a world press conference by the end of this month to officially announce the package,” Olopade stated.
Some of the players, who spoke with The Guardian yesterday after their morning training at the National Stadium in Lagos, praised Ochei for his continuous love for special athletes, especially when he is no longer in government. “It is not common in Nigeria for people to continue sponsorship of a sporting event when they are no more in government. But Ochei has stuck to wheelchair basketball, which is commendable,” one of the players said.
Source: G Sport
