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Victor Ochei Dangles $72,000 On Wheelchair Basketball Teams For Rio Olympics Ticket

By Gowon Akpodonor
17 October 2015   |   11:48 pm
• Raised N4.5 Million For Teams’ Camping It was celebration for wheelchair basketball players yesterday in Lagos, as the sponsor of the annual Wheelchair Basketball Championship, former Speaker of the Delta State House of Assembly, Victor Ochei, promised to dole out the sum of $3,000 each for players of both male and female Nigerian teams,…
Photo: crybytes

Photo: crybytes

• Raised N4.5 Million For Teams’ Camping

It was celebration for wheelchair basketball players yesterday in Lagos, as the sponsor of the annual Wheelchair Basketball Championship, former Speaker of the Delta State House of Assembly, Victor Ochei, promised to dole out the sum of $3,000 each for players of both male and female Nigerian teams, if they pick a ticket for Rio 2016 Olympics Games in next month’s qualifiers in Algeria.

To give the Nigerian teams adequate preparation for the ‘battle of Algeria,’ Ochei led an on-the-spot-fund-raising campaign, which yielded the sum of N4.5 million.

The occasion was the final of the 2015 edition of the Championship, its 4th in the series.

Through the individual efforts and support of Victor Ochei, the game of wheelchair basketball in the country has witnessed a major turn around in the last four years.

Lagos State emerged winner in the male category yesterday beating a hard-fighting Oyo State team 39-35, while Delta State female team successfully defended their title by beating Imo State.

Ochei said that it would be a dream come true for him and the wheelchair basketball family, if any of the team can win a ticket in next month’s African qualifiers in Algeria to fly Nigeria’s flag at Rio 2016 Olympics.

He personally donated the sum of N1.5 million out of the N4.5 million realized in yesterday’s on-the-spot-fund-raising campaign, while the remaining N3 million donations came from his friends and associates. Lagos State has promised to give free accommodation for the teams in preparation for Algeria.

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