One of the semi-finals of the FIBA Africa Women Basketball League Zone 3 Qualifier in Monrovia, Liberia will feature the two Nigerian teams that battled for the NBBF-Zenith women’s Basketball League championship – the MFM Women’s team and the Nigerian Customs.

Ahead of the semi-final game this Saturday, the MFM team visited the Nigerian embassy in Monrovia on Friday afternoon.

According to the Chef de Mission, Godwin Enakhena, “we were received by Mrs Esther Ahuimbe, Charge D’Affiars, Nigerian Embassy, Monrovia.

“She promised to mobilize the Nigerian community to come and cheer both teams.

“You’re welcome to Liberia. When I was informed about your coming, I got your contacts and tried reaching your representative, but the number wasn’t connecting.

“I wanted to know your itinerary so that I can send a delegation to the airport to welcome you. I will mobilize the Nigerian community to the stadium for Saturday’s game to support both teams because both are repressing Nigeria”.

In his response, Godwin Enakhena thanked her for the warm reception at short notice.

Winner of today’s game would not only play in the final on Sunday but also pick one of the two tickets from Fiba Zone 3 to the finals of FIBA Africa Women Basketball League holding in Dakar, Senegal from December 5th-12th, 2024.

Shaquille O’Neal hopes to carry on the legacy of late boxing great Muhammad Ali, the retired four-time NBA champion said, as he uses his extraordinary fame to advance his philanthropic work.

O’Neal will be honored on Saturday at the Muhammad Ali Center in Louisville for his work supporting underserved youth, a cause that reflects the ideals that “The Greatest” championed, Ali’s widow Lonnie Ali said.

“We don’t give this out lightly,” Ali told Reuters in a joint interview with O’Neal.

“We give it to people who emulate Muhammad’s example, who bring that Ali spirit and carry that torch forward to the next generation.”

She said she sees a lot of her husband, a global icon known as much for his political activism as his boxing brilliance, in Hall of Famer O’Neal.

“He has a compassionate and kind heart like Muhammad had,” she said.

O’Neal, 52, credits the Boys & Girls Club of America as being a safe haven for him when he was growing up in a rough part of Newark, New Jersey.

O’Neal’s foundation has long been a high-profile supporter of the philanthropic organization as part of his mission to create pathways to success for young people.

Muhammad and Lonnie first got to know O’Neal in the early 1990s when he was about to be drafted into the NBA, beginning what would become an enduring friendship.

“I can remember my father telling me one day, if you listen to me, you can be as big as Muhammad Ali,” O’Neal said.

“I didn’t believe it. But I had the opportunity to meet Mr. Ali and when he recognized me in a restaurant, I almost cried. I was like, oh my God, Muhammad Ali knows who I am.

“I don’t consider myself in the same stratosphere as Ali but to have had the opportunity to see him, try to mimic him and to be close to his family.

“Everything I’ve tried to do I’ve patterned after the great Muhammad Ali.”

GOOD DEEDS

O’Neal said another inspiration to perform good deeds comes from his mother, who he plans to bring as his date to Saturday’s awards dinner.

“When I do things, I don’t do them for recognition, I do them because I’ve seen other greats like Muhammad Ali do it,” he said.

“And I’m a mama’s boy, and she always told me to be kind and compassionate and help those in need.”

Since retiring from the NBA in 2011, the larger-than-life profile of “Shaq” has only grown.

He is an analyst for TNT’s beloved “Inside the NBA” and is involved in myriad business ventures, charitable causes and artistic endeavors.

Saturday’s annual awards dinner also serves as a fundraiser for the center, whose mission is to “foster respect, inspire generations of changemakers, and advance social justice”.

It welcomes over 100,000 visitors annually and will celebrate its 20th anniversary next year.

“The first 20 years was getting established and putting Muhammad’s legacy down,” Lonnie Ali said.

“We really wanted the center to be built and grounded while Muhammad was still with us,” she said of her husband, who she was married to for three decades before he passed away in 2016.

“The next 20 years will embody even more of Muhammad’s legacy, talking about his greatness and passing that greatness on.”

-Reuters

Godwin Enakhena, a multi-tasked journalist and sports administrator has expressed great happiness as one of his pet tasks has yielded fruits.

He is the man behind the scenes as the MFM Women’s basketball team again emerged as the NBBF-Zenith women’s Basketball League champions.

It is a back-to-back victory and the team will represent Nigeria at the West African zonal qualifiers for the continental championship. They are joined by runners-up, Customs for the Zone 3 competition holding in Liberia from  29 October.

The founder of Christian Ministry that owns the sports outfit, Dr Daniel Olukoya is excited about the feat of the club and has promised his continued support.

It is gathered that youth empowerment through sports is one of the clergyman’s 70-point youth repositioning agenda.

He’s happy that his support has taken the girls out of the streets and got them involved in profitable ventures.

Enakhena narrates the hidden story of the MFM Women’s Basketball Club. “When I birthed this dream about six years ago, it was to key into the vision of MFM General Overseer’s 70-point youth repositioning agenda.

“He spends millions of naira on 70 different projects for the youths and sports happens to be one.

“From free tuition to free accommodation and other empowerment programmes etc. “

“As my name implies, (Godwin), I like to win always because I give anything I do my all, and I mean my very best and I leave the rest to God.

“I thank Dr Olukoya and his wife for this, the players who are the most important persons, the coaches and other backroom staff, my colleagues in the media for your support. I won’t forget all my well-wishers. Power to the Girl-Child. God bless you all.”