Monday Eze 
Nazareth was a tiny and largely unknown area in the northern part of Israel. For some inexplicable reasons, Nazareth was largely seen as a place where nothing good or worthy of envy can come from.
This sentiment was unchallenged for a long time, until the birth of Jesus Christ to Joseph, a Nazarene. Nathanael upon hearing of Jesus’ earthly background, queried: “Can anything good come from Nazareth?” (John 1: 46).
In fact, Nathanael’s question was an instructive expression of the general prejudice of the Israelites against Nazareth. Because of the thickness of this prejudice, Philip refused to address it with words.
Instead of saying a simple “yes” to Nathanael, Philip preferred to invite Nathanael to first-hand evidences of the great thing that has come out of Nazareth: The bible recorded that, Philip answered: “Come and see”.
For long, Abakaliki, previously a generic label for the people of the entire area carved into Ebonyi State from the old Enugu State, were regarded as the Nazareth of Nigeria by Nd’Igbo.
Because Abakaliki people constituted the dominant population of Ebonyi State, this anti-Nazareth prejudice was extended to the entire Ebonyi State.
Nd’Igbo, nay Nigerians, had written off Ebonyi State as the Nazareth of Nigeria where nothing good, enviable, great and spectacular can come from.
However, with the creation of Ebonyi State in 1996, the results of democratic administrations, the diligence and patriotic efforts of the good people of Ebonyi State, all the negative prejudices about Ebonyi State have been defeated and destroyed.
Ebonyi State has become the cynosure of all eyes and the envy of all states in the federation. For instance, Builder Francis Nwifuru’s Peoples Charter of Needs administration in the state is the only state administration in Nigeria that has not borrowed money since inception in May, 2023.
Yet, civil servants are not owed salaries, pensions and gratuities; and youths are empowered with jobs, financial grants, local/international scholarships.
In the same vein, Ebonyi’s health sector is fully revived and set at the service of the masses; rigid pavement roads are built in every community, LGA and district.
The construction of two modern universities – ICT University Agbaja and University of Aeronautical Engineering Onueke – have progressed to enviable stages.
The greatest positive impact of all these is that at a point when hunger and insecurity constitute the greatest challenges of the entire Nigerian nation, Ebonyians have continued to fare better while Ebonyi State has become the most secure state in the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
Simply put, Ebonyi State has become a wonderland populated by a people of honour and integrity! Like Philip in John 1:46, this piece seeks to give insight into the Esthington Basketball Academy which is the latest of the many good things to have come from Ebonyi State, the Nazareth of Nigeria.
Founded by Ebonyi-born business mogul, Dr. Darlington Ugota, Esthington Basketball Academy, which is the first in the Southeast, is Ugota’s latest contribution in support of the Governor Nwifuru administration’s unyielding bid to make Ebonyi State, a land of unlimited opportunities for the citizens.
Nd’Igbo, nay Nigerians, had written off Ebonyi State as the Nazareth of Nigeria where nothing good, enviable, great and spectacular can come from
The Esthington Basketball Academy which complements its sister football academy is a three-pronged package comprising the basketball academy, the basketball club and the modern Esthington Basketball court.
With all these, the basketball academy is designed to harvest, train, harness and export the overflowing basketball talents in the state.
The biography of basketball legend, Michael Jeffrey Jordan, is summary proof that basketball has become a great transformative game as well as a big business globally.
This is not all: Trainings in Esthington Basketball Academy have been designed to prune the characters, reshape the philosophy and instill the Ebonyi legacy of discipline, honour and integrity in the trainees.
The hallmark of this is that Esthington Basketball Academy has come to mop up the idle time of Ebonyi youths and make them unavailable for the proverbial devil’s workshop, drug abuse or addiction, prostitution, youth restiveness or crimes! Thus, the Esthington Basketball Academy will help to sustain the status of Ebonyi State as the most secure state in the federation.
The affiliation of Esthington Basketball Academy with the Basketball Federation of the United States to boost the progress of the alumni of the home academy at the global level drives home the truth and reality of the instructive submission of the Founder and Chairman of Esthington group, Dr. Darlington Ugota (Aka Ji Mba).
In Dr. Ugota’s words: “Esthington basketball court is more than a sporting facility; it is a dream brought to life, a platform purposefully built to identify, nurture, sustain, harness and ultimately project the basketball talents that abound in Ebonyi State.
“It is my humble way of contributing meaningfully to the advancement of sports development in our dear state and of complementing the giant strides of the present administration in this regard.
“It is inspired by a shared vision to raise a generation of athletes who can compete and excel at national and global levels, bringing glory to Ebonyi State!”
It is trite that with the establishment of this hub of opportunities known as Esthing- ton Basketball Academy in Ebonyi State the ball of excellence and greatness is in Ebonyi youths’ court; and I charge them to rise above, rule the game and dazzle the world with their respective talents.
