Evelyn Akhator: Basketball will allow me to help the less fortunate in Nigeria and around the world
CHARLEVILLE MEZIERES (France) - I'm planning to launch the Benny A Foundation in honor of my late mother, who died in a road accident.
CHARLEVILLE MEZIERES (France) - I know it's a privilege to play basketball for a living. I also know how fortunate I am that the game allows me to travel the world, and also to represent my country at major events like the FIBA Women's World Cup and hopefully the Tokyo Olympics.
I sometimes pinch myself to know this is all real.
You see, I spent the first 18 years of my life in Lagos before going to America and playing college basketball at Chipola College and then the University of Kentucky, before experiencing seasons with the WNBA's Dallas Wings, with clubs in Russia, Turkey, Spain and now France, with Charleville Mezieres.
There's something more important that basketball is going to do for me.
It's going to help me as I plan to start up my Benny A Foundation, by God's grace, in honor of my mother. My time in the sport and connections will, I hope, help me get sponsorships and partnerships.
"THE FOUNDATION WILL BE AIMED AT HELPING PEOPLE THAT LIVE ON THE STREET. BUT ALSO BECAUSE MY MOTHER DIED IN A ROAD ACCIDENT, I WANT TO CREATE AWARENESS THAT THE ROADS NEED TO BE BETTER IN NIGERIA, NEED TO BE FIXED"
The foundation will be named after my late mother, Benedicta Akhator. The plan will be to launch it in Nigeria but I want it, ultimately, to be global. Its primary focus will be on charity and community service. I come from a country where I saw a lot of homeless people and I've tried to put myself in their shoes and wonder what it would be like.
So the foundation will be aimed at helping people that live on the street. But also because my mother died in a road accident, I want to create awareness that the roads need to be better in Nigeria, need to be fixed and not just in my state but in the country overall.
It's about making people's lives better.
Akhator was a driving force for Nigeria in their Women's AfroBasket title run last year
There's a lot that'll be going on this year. I'll be with Nigeria at the FIBA Women's Olympic Qualifying Tournament in Serbia in February and looking to clinch a spot in the Tokyo Olympics. This is beyond my wildest dreams that I have a shot to go to Japan, a country I've always wanted to visit.
It's going to be equally exciting off the court as I take aim at starting my foundation.
Evelyn Akhator
Akhator, 24, has already claimed two FIBA Women's AfroBasket titles with Nigeria and was also a member of the national team that reached the Quarter-Finals of the FIBA Women's Basketball World Cup 2018 in Tenerife, Spain. A standout during her two years at the University of Kentucky, where she had 18 double-doubles as a senior and finished among the all-time leaders in several statistical categories, Akhator owns the distinction as the highest selected player in school history. She was taken third overall in the 2017 WNBA Draft by Dallas. She now competes in France's top division with Charleville Mezieres.