Giving back to Nigeria
Texans' Okoye organizes trip to his homeland
Amobi Okoye stood outside the airplane and inhaled deeply, filling
his lungs with as much of Nigeria as he could. His older brother,
Arinze, did the same.
The two boys looked at each other and tried to hold their breath as
long as they could. They were moving to the United States, a country
they knew only through tales their father told them and what they had
seen on television.
Eight years and millions of American breaths later, Amobi and Arinze
Okoye have been counting the days until they could fill their lungs
with Nigeria again.
"We were going to let go of that last breath of Nigeria air when we
landed in the United States," said Arinze, 22. "I guess it was kind
of silly. We thought we were going to hop on a plane and be there in
no time."
Amobi, 20, is no longer the same young, naοve boy. He is a
professional football player with the Texans with a $17.6 million
contract.
But the more you speak with him, the more you hear a trace of his
Igbo accent. And as soon as Nigeria is mentioned, the passion in his
voice seeps out. This week, Amobi and Arinze are returning to Nigeria
for the first time and taking with them five NFL players Bears
defensive end Adewale Ogunleye, Texans running back Ahman Green,
Giants defensive end Osi Umenyiora and Bears defensive tackles Israel
Idonije and Tommie Harris. They want to offer hope and a promise to
return.
"The message we want to send is, 'Everybody, hold on to your
dreams,' " Amobi said. " 'Hold on to your dreams and keep working
hard. You never know what might happen.' "
Amobi has worked tirelessly with Arinze and their cousin, Okey
Chidume, for almost three months to organize this trip, which begins
Tuesday when they meet with Nigerian President Umaru Yar'Adua.
During their seven-day trip, they will outfit a Nigerian national
youth soccer team with Nike clothes and equipment. They will give 20
full scholarships to young men and women preparing to attend Nigerian
universities. They will fund and oversee the completion of water
wells in a village in dire need of clean water. And they will deliver
HIV test kits to a number of teaching hospitals to aid in the support
of the HIV initiative in Nigeria.
"I knew eventually the first time I got back, I was going to do
something," Amobi said. "This is just the first year. My plan is as
the years go on that it will get bigger and better."
Ogunleye didn't hesitate to sign on when he was told of Amobi's idea.
Ogunleye watched a steady stream of relatives move in and out of his
Staten Island, N.Y., home as a child.
Their home was the first stop for many close and distant family
members immigrating to the United States from Nigeria.
Ogunleye sometimes resented his parents' open-door policy. But
Gabriel and Lawrie Ogunleye would not send anyone to a hotel no
matter how crowded their home became. That's not how they were raised
in Nigeria.
Now he understands
It took years for their American-born son to not only understand
but appreciate the values his parents taught him.
"Nigerian kids are all basically raised the same," Ogunleye
said. "There are two constants. We depend on family and we believe in
giving giving until it hurts."
Ogunleye has talked with Idonije for years about organizing an effort
to aid those in Nigeria, but their talks never amounted to much
action. Ogunleye gave away scholarships in Nigeria a few years ago
when he visited, but he always wanted to do more.
Neither he nor Idonije expected a 20-year-old rookie to accomplish
what they had hoped to start.
"This speaks a lot of the young man's character," said Idonije, who
was born in Lagos, Nigeria, and lived there until he was 4. "I know
at 20, that's not something I was focused on.
"Amobi sees the bigger picture in life, and I'm glad to be working
with him."
Amobi was taught similar values as Ogunleye growing up. Arinze and
Chidume, 24, share Amobi's home in Houston with him. Okoye's father
calls daily to check on all three of them.
Edna and Augustine Okoye's message of giving sank in so well with
their sons it has caused Edna concern recently. Amobi's decision to
organize the Nigeria trip wasn't met with sheer enthusiasm from her.
"It's not exactly what I hoped for," Edna said. "It was a very
stressful season for him. I told him, 'I don't think you have rested
in the past five years.' All through college, he was busy trying to
get his (psychology) degree in 3 1/2 years. Spring, summer and fall,
it was nonstop. Then in December of last year, he started to prepare
to go to the draft."
"He has never really rested, so I was thinking this would be a time
for him to really relax. Really, fully relax. Putting this thing
together, you're not extending any physical energy, but the mental
energy is draining."
Amobi, Arinze and Chidume admit there have been sleepless nights.
But the small trip they started planning in December has grown and
developed into something they are proud of.
"No player that we talked to turned us down," Chidume said. "Everyone
is seeing what we are seeing from it. We want to help improve other
people's lives. Help improve living conditions and help improve
education.
"Now, sponsors were different, of course. Many of them said, 'Well,
you know we can't help you with this, but keep us posted.' But the
athletes, jumped on board."
The players are financing much of the trip out of their own pockets.
Their closest advisers are family members.
Ogunleye's father is in Emure, Ekiti State, overseeing the completion
of the water wells, which are in his hometown.
All in the family
Augustine Okoye will travel and help the group all week. In the end,
he will evaluate what they need to do to make the next trip more
successful.
"This is always the case in something new, you don't depend on
outsiders to do it," Augustine Okoye said. "When you start something
new, you are going to have to put a lot of your own money and a lot
of your own effort there. People are going to sit by the side and
watch to see if you fly or fail. And when you fly, that's when
everybody is going to come to your aid and say, 'Oh, don't worry
about this. I'll pay for this. I'll do this and this and that and
that.' But the initial steps are going to have to be 90 percent, if
not, 100 percent your effort."
The players are OK with that. Ogunleye wants to make sure it remains
driven by the players participating. He doesn't want corporations
taking it over, and players just going through the motions during the
trip.
The players insist the key is to simply return. Idonije said the
success will be measured not by what they accomplish in one week, but
what they can accomplish years from now.
"If it's something we just do once, that is not a success to me,"
Idonije said. "It has to continue. It has to grow and become a
functioning thing on its own so that when there is no more Israel, no
more Amobi and no more Adewale, the program is still there and
providing opportunities for people who need it."
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Texans' Okoye organizes trip to his homeland
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