Masai Ujiri: Great Being First African-born Manager of an NBA Club

Masai Ujiri,

The name of Hakeem Olajuwon readily comes to mind whenever basketball is being discussed in the United States of America and beyond, especially after his successes with the Houston Rockets. But beyond ‘The Dream’, another Nigerian – Masai Ujiri, has broken the barriers and rose to the position of the General Manager of NBA Club – Toronto Raptors, the first by an African. In 2012-13 season, he was voted the NBA Executive of the Year. Ujiri was in the country to organise his yearly Giant of Africa/Nestle Top-50 Basketball Camp for boys and girls, which has been on now for over a decade. In an interview with Kunle Adewale he gave an insight into some of the achievements of the camp so far

After ending a professional playing career in 2002, Masai Ujiri worked as a youth coach in Nigeria. But it was during a National Basketball Association summer league game in Boston that he met David Thorpe, who introduced him to college coaches. He started accompanying young Nigerian players to draft tryout in Orlando when he impressed scouting director, Gary Brokaw, who then introduced him to Coach Doc Rivers and General Manager, John Gabriel.
He then became an unpaid scout for Orlando Margic paying his own way when he had to and sharing rooms with scouts or players when he could.
Later Jeff Weltman, then a young Nuggets executive, introduced him to Nuggets General Manager, Kiki Vandewehe, who then hired Ujiri on salary as an international scout.
“Denver Nuggets took a chance on me and it thus came a time when this opportunity was so big and it put me on some form of a stage, where I can affect basketball a little bit more, especially on the continent here. I had a great run in Nuggets; they gave me an unbelievable opportunity to be a first time General Manager,” he recalled.
After four seasons with the Nuggets, he was hired by Bryan Colangelo of the Toronto Raptors as their director of global scouting. Ujiri became the Raptors’ assistant general manager in 2008, and returned to the Nuggets in 2010, when he accepted his position as executive vice president in charge of basketball operations.
On May 31, last year, Ujiri signed a five-year, $15 million deal to become general manager of the Toronto Raptors: “It was a difficult decision leaving Denver Nuggets, but because I had worked in Toronto, I’m familiar with the organisation, ownership and I was happy to go back,” he said.

Though his pet Africa Top 50 basketball is now in its 12th year, for him every home-coming is always great: “To come and be part of the camp we started several years ago is always great. The Top Fifty and Giant of Africa Camp mean a lot to me. It’s something that will always be close to my heart and I’ll always be close to home through this. I’d like to thank Nestle Milo for being a strong supper of the project and also Nike for their continuous support. It’s not only with what they have provided but the sustenance over the years; it’s always good to have sponsors that will continue to stay by you. Other than that, I’m glad to be here and we hope to always help these kids,” the first African-born general manager for an American major league sports team emphasized.
Continuing he said: “Obtaining a camp and giving young kids opportunity to better their lives gives me pleasure and I really want to thank all the coaches, especially the Proprietor of Dodan Warriors Basketball Club, Colonel Sam Amedu (rtd) and all the people that have really helped in keeping this camp going. I think the ground is the most special thing in the camp before finding and selecting players. The bottom line of this camp is for the kids to go to America but I have always told the kids that if they are good enough, they will end up doing something good with their life. I just wanted to create an opportunity for kids and now that I am back with a better opportunity. I think we are going to broaden some of the things that we can do and one of the things we are going to really look at is developing out-door courts and trying to make an impact with the facilities for these kids to play. That’s what on our minds and we are going to discuss this
extensively obviously with my guys on ground. With Amedu and the coaches, we’ll try and put our resources together to see what we can do.”

On how Nigerian players can get into NBA through his influence and camp, the NBA Executive of the Year said: “I don’t think there has been any young Nigerian basketball player that is really good that hasn’t left the country. If you are good enough, you will be found. However, our emphasis is on education and being prepared for what life is all about, that is what we are trying to teach these kids. The NBA has only 400 players and only a few players are going to make it. We are proud that a lot of them have gone through universities in the US. I have been a big influence on these kids in a big way, showing them that it is not only through basketball that they can make it. One can also do other things outside basketball using the game as a tool and basketball can create that avenue just like what I’m doing now. We stressed the need for the participants to take their education seriously, as it was not possible for all of them to be drafted into the
NBA league even if they play at colleges in the US.

“Education is one thing that the kids can lean on at any time. Education got me the position that I am now. If a player got injured in the process of playing he can always fall back to education. Two players from the camp-Solomon Alabi and Chukwudi Maduabum have gone on to star in the NBA,” Ujiri noted.
The 2014 edition of the Giant of Africa/Nestle Top 50 Basketball Camp for boys and girls kicks off on Sunday and ended on Tuesday with both foreign and local coaches, including Patrick Engelbrecht, Brandon Johnson, Scott Nnaji, Abel Nelson.
The camp which was initially fixed for August was postponed because of the Ebola outburst in Nigeria will see the participants go through dribbling and ball handling, shooting fundamentals, passing and catching fundamentals, individual defence and footwork station.

“This year’s camp is situated at a difficult time because of the postponement it suffered as a result of Ebola. My team is playing tonight (Monday) and I won’t be there. That is how tight my schedule is. We had kids from Nigeria, Benin Republic and Togo with instructors drawn from Nigeria and the United States of America,” he said.
Masai however feels fulfilled after 12 years starting the camp.
“Looking back after 12 years when we started, I will say the camp has really grown. I hope it continues to grow. A lot of kids aspire to attend the camp which provides them the opportunity to learn the basics of the game, which I think are very important for us. If you go to a lot of college games in the United States and you see a lot of kids that have passed through the camp, it is overwhelming because there are so many of them but my concentration is how to develop the game in this country and I think it’s one of the camp that has been sustained over the years and we are proud of that.”
The Top 50 Camp is however not without its obstacles some of which Masai identified thus: “Some of the challenges we have is the number of kids that would have loved to participate but had to be turned down because of limited accommodation and facilities.  For instance, we have to do with only one basketball court. Maybe after 12 years we will consider expanding it. We are limited in terms of facility and it’s not just conducive for you to say that you put 150 kids in that stadium.
“So the camp being elite is what makes it good. To get into the camp, be part of it and be selected is something special and we have to continue that way. We don’t want to water it down and allow anybody to just come. To keep the camp at a high level we need to keep it at a minimum number and that’s what we are doing. To sustain that number as long as we can.”
The six-foot-four manager said he could mention about a hundred kids from his camp that are in the United State doing different things.

“They are everywhere and we have all the data. I’m creating a website, the Giants of Africa website of which work is already in progress. A website of comprehensive information for people to know more about the camp, the past, the coaches, the history, photos, videos and all those stuffs is being built. It takes time, money and all other things that will be needed but we slowly getting them together.
“We need to start developing young kids. One of my goals is to catch them at a younger age. What we are doing now is between the ages of 15-19 but when we get to what we want to start doing with basket in terms of facilities and outdoor courts, then you get younger players playing. That’s why we are so talented in football because the facilities are easier to create. With just four stones which can serve as goal posts, you can get going. When I came to camp on Sunday morning, I see soccer players playing all over. It’s easy to build skills that way when you play that way. With the basketball court, it’s not easy to build a rim, so kids start playing at a late age, and when you start playing at a late age, your skill is limited,” he noted.
Ujiri crave for more basketball camps in the country, which he said will enhance the development of the game in the country.
“The more basketball camps we have the better for the game. Other organisations should come up and support basketball. There are not enough competitions in the game in Nigeria. We should also do more in the areas of coaches and facilities development. The country has a lot of talents that could achieve greatness in basketball, but the impediments are inadequate facilities and few numbers of qualified coaches to harness the abundant talents. My desire is to help develop the youths, who are looking for the opportunity to build their careers from the game.”

On the chances of his Toronto Raptures this season, he said: “We have a very good chance like every other team in the NBA and we will keep on fighting till the end.” The former Nigerian basketball player said the camp has been extended to other African countries last year. “We are now in Kenya and we will be starting that of Rwanda and Ghana,” he said.

Ujiri, born in 1970, in Zaria, to a doctor mother and a hospital administrator/nursing educationist father. He originally played football as a youth before focusing on basketball. His interest with basketball started as a 13-year old playing with friends on outdoor basketball courts in northern Nigeria. This interest would be fed by American sports magazines and VHS tapes of NBA games or basketball movies. He immigrated to the United States to play two years of basketball at Bismarck State College, and then transferred to Montana State University, though he left the latter school after one semester. He then spent six years playing professionally in Europe.

THISDAY

Jonathan: We’ll Overcome Security Challenges Despite Sabotage

President Goodluck Jonathan on Friday reiterated that Nigeria would overcome its security challenges despite “internal and external sabotage.”

The President spoke when he held a meeting with a group of actors and actresses at the Presidential Villa.

Jonathan said: “One of our greatest challenges is this security challenge. But we are working very hard. We have our frustrations, we have issues of sabotage – internal and external – but we are working very hard and by the grace of God, we will overcome.”

He noted that the creative professionals had brought value to governance and social issues in the country.

Jonathan told his guests that they were not just entertainers, as they were creating a positive image for Nigeria.

“Most of us politicians are just busy generating negative issues. Everyday, they talk about corruption, governance and other issues. It is you people that pump the positive news in the system.

“You promote our culture and that is why Edem Duke has always been passionate about you. You even bring value reorientation which I appreciate so much in some of the films you act and some of the music you play.

“I recall as a Vice President, during one of our deliberations, one of the ministers raised concerns and urged you to reduce the voodoo and fetish things in your movies. But I said the way I see some of the films, they resemble the kind of things I use to read in Hardly Chase Novels when men were boys. In Hardly Chase, if you commit a crime you must surely pay for it.

“So, the way I look at the films, those who use negative powers never succeed in the end. Though I don’t know much about the industry but watching it from my ordinary person’s point of view, I have seen that they are rather preaching good values because negative powers will land you where you don’t want to be and you should not go there. So I said you should be allowed to do what you are doing.

“You are much more than entertainers to people who want to relax. You are also changing the psyche of the youths and I know through your films and songs, some of them will begin to abhor making money through demons, making sacrifices, killing people because you will always pay a price for it. So I value that,” Jonathan said.

He added that in terms of the economy, the creative professionals were adding so much to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

“Before, it was a sector that was not even regarded but you have created so many jobs directly and indirectly. It is only the pirates that are a problem to us. So, you are a group we must adore, we must appreciate as true ambassadors actually if you talk about outside Nigeria.

“We thank you for what you are doing. We will continue to encourage and provide funds to assist those of you who may need some support to come up with what you intend to do because we believe in what you are doing.

“Yes, we have oil. Now, we are talking about budget. Everyday, we are shifting the benchmarks upward and downwards because you can never know the price of crude oil. An economy based on primary commodity will always have that problem and that is one of the key things about transformation.”

He stressed that the nation must move from an economy based on primary commodities, to one based on creativity and knowledge.

“What you bring into the economy is not affected by temporary fluctuations or the price volatility of primary commodity like crude oil, solid minerals, diamonds and all that.

“Take Switzerland that has little or no natural resources, but has one of the most stable economies because of their creativity and knowledge. Japan for instance is almost sitting on a piece of rock and traumatised by seismic activities of volcanoes and other disasters every time; but their economy is solid because of knowledge.

“And that is why we are passionate about you. That is why I love you people so much and I appreciate what you are doing.

Today I’m seeing you in person unlike when I see you on the television. We are proud of you, the country is happy with you and we want to especially thank you for coming to give us that reassurance.

“You have been very supportive of the government because of the creative minds and that is what it should be because a government must be encouraged to work for the people. Yes, there are challenges, every government has challenges but when a government is in place, a government should be encouraged for that period.

“We have challenges presently even in our infrastructure but we are committed to expanding it be it in transportation, aviation, ports, roads, power infrastructure,” the President said.a

2nd
CAPTION: NNPC’s Group General Manager, Public Affairs, Ohi Alegbe
NNPC to APC Presidential Candidate: We Don’t Keep Two Accounts
Chineme Okafor in Abuja
The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) has responded strongly to the allegation of fraud levelled against it by former Head of State and presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Gen. Muhammadu Buhari (rtd), saying such claims were untrue.

The Corporation, in a statement by its Group General Manager, Public Affairs, Ohi Alegbe, on Friday in Abuja, described Buhari’s allegation as “political mischief”.

It further stated that if by making the allegation in his acceptance speech at the just concluded convention, Buhari wanted the Nigerian public to believe what he had said, then it might as well be good for him to concede that the allegation of a missing $2.8 billion oil money against the NNPC under his watch as minister of petroleum was true.

NNPC said that coming from a former petroleum minister under whose watch a similar allegation of fraud was made, Buhari’s statement smacks of political mischief as he should know better than to peddle “beer palour gossip as facts.”

Said NNPC: “It is sad that General Buhari, one of the founding fathers of the NNPC who himself has tasted of the virulent but false allegations deliberately concocted to cast the corporation and the public sector management of the nation’s oil and gas industry in bad light, would be the one to allege that NNPC runs two sets of account books, one for public consumption and another for insiders.

“We consider General Buhari’s allegation in bad taste as it is nothing but a deliberate political mischief calculated to cast the corporation in opprobrium all in a bid to shore up his political capital.

“We find it difficult to understand how a former head of state who has also served as minister of petroleum resources could believe that NNPC keeps two sets of account books to perpetrate fraud, knowing that NNPC is the most audited and scrutinised agency in the country.

“In the past one year alone, the corporation has had its books scrutinised and audited by the senate committee on finance and an external auditor, PriceWaterhouseCooper (PWC). Is it possible for the accounting discrepancies insinuated by General Buhari to escape the attention of such internationally-acclaimed auditors? “And in any case, why would an alleged fraudulent corporation keep two sets of accounting books knowing that such could be used as evidence against it?.”

The statement continued: “We hereby state emphatically that NNPC neither keeps two sets of account books nor is aware of the existence of such as the corporation is run in line with international best practice.

“If General Buhari believes such false information that are usually the subject of beer parlour gossip was true, would he rather that the Nigerian public believe that the allegation of missing $2.8 billion oil money against the NNPC under his watch as minister of petroleum was true?”

It therefore asked the Nigerian public to discountenance the allegation as there was no iota of truth in it.

Buhari Asks Tinubu to Select Running Mate

Former military Head of State Major-General Muhammadu Buhari who emerged the presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) following his landslide victory on Thursday in Lagos has taken a bold decision on the choice of his running mate by asking APC leader Asiwaju Bola Tinubu to recommend his running mate, including possibly himself.

A source close to Buhari told THISDAY that he gave Tinubu the power to pick his running mate in the 2015 Presidential election after a meeting of APC chieftains in Lagos because “he was very impressed with the way Tinubu kept to his words to back him to victory by delivering bulk South-west votes to him during the Presidential primary.”

Another source added: “This bulk South-west vote gave the general a big edge in the primary. He (Buhari) was impressed with Asiwaju’s conduct.”

Having delivered on his promise, Buhari felt it was only natural that he should reciprocate Tinubu’s gesture and good faith.

So, on Friday, Buhari was said to have told the former Lagos State Governor to choose or recommend a running mate for him.

“Buhari told Tinubu that he could either choose himself or recommend somebody else. The combined vote of the region, plus the votes of Akwa-Ibom, Rivers and Bayelsa delivered by Rotimi Amaechi of Rivers State gave Buhari a landslide victory in Lagos,” said the source.

However, the source said Buhari was aware of a recent APC resolution against a Muslim/Muslim Presidential ticket and that the General was also aware of the sensitivity and diversity of the Nigerian nation before making the offer to Tinubu who is a Muslim like himself.

The calculation is that should Tinubu pick himself as the running mate and it is acceptable to the party Exco, Buhari would have no opposition to it.

On the other hand, if he is rejected by the Exco, Tinubu will have to recommend somebody else. High on Tinubu’s consideration, should it come to that, is Governor Adams Oshiomhole of Edo State and Professor Yemi Osibajo, a former commissioner in Tinubu’s defunct cabinet. Osibajo’s consideration is to give the South-west a sense of belonging in the emerging political permutation.

Buhari, who by his win at the APC convention has set up a rematch against President Goodluck Jonathan of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), got 3,430 votes to beat other contenders for the presidential ticket of the main opposition party.

Prior to Friday’s decision by Buhari, Tinubu had always been speculated to be a major contender for the vice presidential slot.

He was said to have stubbornly refused to step down his ambition despite the strong opposition within APC to a Muslim-Muslim pairing.

Another major contender is the Rivers State Governor Chibuike Amaechi, a Christian from the South-south zone, who has been a major financing and logistic supporter for Buhari to square up against Atiku and other contenders for the APC ticket.

Amaechi, who has never hidden his desire for the vice-presidential slot, was also instrumental in the outward transformation of Buhari, from a light-blue agbada wearing, stodgy, elderly retired army general, to an urbane, bespoke suit-wearing, spritely man eager to keep up with the Joneses.

For Amaechi’s efforts, Buhari’s key advisers canvassed the vice-presidential slot for him. But with the decision by Buhari yesterday, Amaechi’s hopes seemed to have been dashed.

A source close to Tinubu said the Rivers State governor stood not even the slightest chance of being nominated by the former Lagos State governor as he is now torn between a South-west candidate and a South-south candidate.

The calculation is, were he to choose a South-south candidate, who in this case is Adams Oshiomhole, the National Chairman who is Chief John Odigie Oyegun also from Edo State, South-south will have to vacate office for a South-west candidate.

Many of the leaders of the party believe that should Tinubu concede the vice presidential slot to Oshiomhole,  he (Tinubu) would have to emerge as the national chairman so that he would be able to influence appointments in favour of the South-west.