GSS Apo, GSS Zone 3 Win 2023 Power Forward Basketball Championship 

Olawale Ajimotokan  in Abuja 

GSS Apo and GSS Zone 3 excelled by clinching the boys’ and girls’ basketball championship games at the 10th edition of the Power Forward Finals at M.K.O. Abiola National Stadium, Abuja. 

GSS Apo defeated GSS Zone 3 in the boys’ final while GSS Zone 3 beat Total Child Model School in the girls’ final. 

This season featured 30 boys’ teams and 12 girls’ teams, with the top eight girls’ teams and top 10 boys’ teams advancing to the playoffs and the top two girls’ and boys’ playoff teams advancing to the Power Forward finals 

Power Forward is a youth development programme. Now in its 10th year, it was established in 2013 to provide life skills and public health awareness, malaria prevention workshops and basketball development programming. 

More than 250,000 boys and girls across 40 schools in Abuja have participated in the programme. 

This year featured a junior NBA clinic for 1,200 children aged 16 and under and an alumni summit in the presence of 2015 NBA champion Festus Ezeli and 2015AfroBasket champion Olumide Oyedeji. 

ExxonMobil Foundation President, Alvin Abraham, said the partnership with NBA Africa and PanAfricare on the Power Forward initiative over the past decade has promoted youth development through sports, life skills, and public health education as well as empowered many young Nigerians to use the leadership skills they learned to work towards a brighter future for the country. 

NBA Africa Vice President and Country Head of Nigeria, Gbemisola Abudu, said they were encouraged as the initiative has utilised the transformative power of basketball to educate young people about public health awareness while instilling critical life skills such as teamwork and leadership in them. 

“We are excited to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the Power Forward programme as we build on our long-standing commitment to positively impacting the Abuja community,” Abudu said. 

Also PanAfricare Nigeria Country Director, Dr. Patrick Adah, noted that Power Forward has contributed to raising over 8,000 malaria champions and public health advocates.