On CNN’s African Voices Changemakers, Ejike Ugboaja talks about inspiring the next generation of athletes

…African Voices Changemakers airs on CNN International Saturday 12th July 2025 at 07:30 WAT

In the latest episode of African Voices Changemakers, CNN’s Larry Madowo sits down with NBA veteran Ejike Ugboaja who is opening doors for young athletes.

Ugboaja is on a mission to create pathways for young Nigerian sportspeople, giving them a shot at professional careers while making sure education remains at play. He tells Madowo, “My passion keeps pushing me to do sports and to help to change where we came from. There are too many talents out there.”

From local courts in Nigeria to the national team, Ugboaja quickly rose through the ranks. In 2006, he was drafted by the Cleveland Cavaliers and went on to spend nearly a decade playing professionally, “Basketball is not a political affair. Basketball is something that changes, takes people out of the street. I’m the one of the people who it took out of the street. I’m one of them. If I can be drafted and have a meaningful life today, it’s because I was playing basketball.”

Ugboaja wasn’t content with his own success and set out to break barriers so other Nigerian athletes would not face the ones he did. He explains, “When I got drafted, the sad thing that happened. I was thinking Nigeria, like everybody will come out to help me. I went to the US Embassy, I was denied a visa about 8 times. […] So, that is what prompts the Ejike Ugboaja Foundation, because if I can face this kind of stuff, a lot of people are going to face this kind of stuff. So, I start trying to change people’s lives in any way I can.”

Founded in 2006, his nonprofit helps young athletes, not just in basketball, but football, wrestling, and track, to earn scholarships, get training, and reach global stages. Ugboaja says, “The foundation has taken over 500 athletes to go to school in the US, and even get their education, so I’m very happy about that.”

Despite these successes, Ugboaja describes how challenges persist, “In Nigeria, we have talent, but we don’t really have the basics. So, we need to learn these things, to bring it to them. We can’t boast of one good gym in Nigeria. We cannot. Nobody can come and tell you we have one good stadium. So, you see, I want to bring that back to Nigeria so that we start from there.”

Looking to the future, Ugboaja says he dreams of building world-class sports facilities in Nigeria, places where young people can see a future beyond their immediate surroundings, “My excitement for the next few years is I’m trying to create an avenue where people can come and do sports, which is a recreation centre. […] And I want to get a lot of coaches from outside and home to support and train these players so that they will be fundamentally sound. That is my excitement.”

African Voices Changemakers airs on CNN International at the following times:

Saturday 12th July 2025 at 07:30 WAT and 11:00 WAT
Sunday 13th July 2025 at 03:30 WAT and 18:00 WAT
Monday 14th July 2025 at 03:30 WAT and 17:45 WAT
Saturday 19th July 2025 at 07:30 WAT and 11:00 WAT
Sunday 20th July 2025 at 03:30 WAT 18:00 WAT
Sunday 21st July 2025 03:00 WAT