Cantonment Braves of Onigbongbo LCDA, Ikeja, have emerged champions of the maiden edition of the Renewed Hope Basketball Tournament for political wards in the Ikeja Federal Constituency.
Eighteen teams representing the wards in the constituency contested for the championship, the huge cash prize, as well as the glittering giant trophy.
At the end of five days of intense and exciting grassroots basketball, Cantonment Braves, against all odds, defeated their much-fancied opponents, Hoops and Read, 44-37, to win the championship.
The finals of the championship, which was sponsored by Olawale Fadare, the Personal Assistant on General Duties to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, and ably supported by a group of young professionals under the aegis of Young Professionals For Tinubu (YP4T), was witnessed by some distinguished personalities in the sports and political sectors.
Amongst the guests were the Leader of the House Onigbongbo LCDA, Hon. Francis Nkwo; Mrs Oby, General Manager of Reformers Basketball Club, Abuja; retired police officer and renowned basketball coach Mark Balogun; and coach Ayodele Bakare.
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Speaking during the final, Mark Balogun commended the sponsors and organisers of the basketball event, even as he admonished the participants to take the game seriously, as it is a path out of social vices and to a glorious career.
On his part, Alex Oware, the national coordinator of YP4T, commended the selflessness and commitment of the sponsor, Olawale Fadare, towards re-engineering the society and, particularly, engaging and empowering the youths through the renewed hope agenda of President Bola Tinubu.
He assured that the championship would not be a one-off event, as there are plans for further collaborations on life-changing initiatives and programmes for the benefit of the people.
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Tournament Coordinator Kenneth Agba thanked the sponsor, supporters and members of his LOC for a successful tournament. He promised that the subsequent editions would be better and bigger.
Cantonment Braves received the princely first prize money of N500,000, second-placed Hoops & Read received N300,000, Ebun Comets got N200,000 for finishing third, while Bobcats received N100,000.
Meanwhile, the other fourteen teams who participated also received N50,000 each as appearance fees.