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DWB Duo Team Together to Help Native Country
5/28/2020 9:58:00 AM | Women's Basketball
By Allison Hogue, GoDuke.com
DURHAM, N.C.-- It was Jan. 28 when Nigeria confirmed its first case of COVID-19. Rising junior Onome Akinbode-James and rising sophomore Jennifer Ezeh were in the middle of basketball season at Duke when the news broke. Two months later, the country went on lockdown becoming a difficult situation for low-income communities.
"I don't think a lot of us weren't aware as we are now," said Akinbode-James. "As time went along, things changed, my reaction to that changed especially after schools were shut down and everyone was kind of like 'oh, this might be a serious thing."
The closures due to COVID-19 had a serious effect as the borders and support services were shut down and people were struggling to survive. In Nigeria, the low-income community depends on day-to-day resources. People who work in the private sector have no job security. The challenge of this lockdown was the government not providing resources for those in need.
When Akinbode James saw what was happening, she knew she had to step in and help. The native of Abeokuta, Nigeria came up with the idea to create a video on social media to support those affected by COVID-19 in her home country. Over 1,800 people saw Akinbode James' post and were inspired by her message.
Ezeh who is from Nibo, Nigeria also caught the attention of her teammate's video and decided to jump in on the campaign. Together, the student-athletes started a fund called COVID Fund Naija to support the low-income communities.
"We are trying to see how we can reach a lot of people back home," Ezeh said, "that's why Onome and I set up the Instagram account."
With the approval from the NCAA Compliance, Akinbode-James and Ezeh began reaching out to people from their home country living in the United States. Both players set up an Instagram and GoFundMe page to spread the word. They later started using Venmo and Cash App for donations. So far, the two teammates have raised over $3,000 (which is $1.2 million in Nigerian currency) to help provide food and resources for the low-income community.
Akinbode-James believes this platform will allow her and Ezeh to hold "people more accountable and try to get our government to be more accountable."
"We're going to keep the conversation going," Akinbode-James added, "people are going through a stage and that will enable them to feed themselves and we want to help out with that."
Duke head coach Joanne P. McCallie was inspired by what her two student-athletes were doing and praised them for their efforts. She and the women's basketball staff also donated to COVID Fund Naija.
"Very creative, very thoughtful," McCallie replied. "If you know Onome and Jen, they are just two very special people and they've been away from their country a longtime pursuing education. We're very excited to help them and also spread the word about it."
Now that the 2019-20 school year is finished, Akinbode-James and Ezeh will not be able to return home to Nigeria. But they will continue to raise awareness for their country during the fight against COVID-19. The players cannot express how thankful they are for the donations that were made to COVID Fund Naija.
"I just want to give a quick shout out to everyone who has been of support of this movement," Ezeh replied. "Thank you all for your trust and your ability to care for people with special needs through this time in Nigeria."
#GoDuke
DURHAM, N.C.-- It was Jan. 28 when Nigeria confirmed its first case of COVID-19. Rising junior Onome Akinbode-James and rising sophomore Jennifer Ezeh were in the middle of basketball season at Duke when the news broke. Two months later, the country went on lockdown becoming a difficult situation for low-income communities.
"I don't think a lot of us weren't aware as we are now," said Akinbode-James. "As time went along, things changed, my reaction to that changed especially after schools were shut down and everyone was kind of like 'oh, this might be a serious thing."
The closures due to COVID-19 had a serious effect as the borders and support services were shut down and people were struggling to survive. In Nigeria, the low-income community depends on day-to-day resources. People who work in the private sector have no job security. The challenge of this lockdown was the government not providing resources for those in need.
When Akinbode James saw what was happening, she knew she had to step in and help. The native of Abeokuta, Nigeria came up with the idea to create a video on social media to support those affected by COVID-19 in her home country. Over 1,800 people saw Akinbode James' post and were inspired by her message.
Ezeh who is from Nibo, Nigeria also caught the attention of her teammate's video and decided to jump in on the campaign. Together, the student-athletes started a fund called COVID Fund Naija to support the low-income communities.
"We are trying to see how we can reach a lot of people back home," Ezeh said, "that's why Onome and I set up the Instagram account."
With the approval from the NCAA Compliance, Akinbode-James and Ezeh began reaching out to people from their home country living in the United States. Both players set up an Instagram and GoFundMe page to spread the word. They later started using Venmo and Cash App for donations. So far, the two teammates have raised over $3,000 (which is $1.2 million in Nigerian currency) to help provide food and resources for the low-income community.
Akinbode-James believes this platform will allow her and Ezeh to hold "people more accountable and try to get our government to be more accountable."
"We're going to keep the conversation going," Akinbode-James added, "people are going through a stage and that will enable them to feed themselves and we want to help out with that."
Duke head coach Joanne P. McCallie was inspired by what her two student-athletes were doing and praised them for their efforts. She and the women's basketball staff also donated to COVID Fund Naija.
"Very creative, very thoughtful," McCallie replied. "If you know Onome and Jen, they are just two very special people and they've been away from their country a longtime pursuing education. We're very excited to help them and also spread the word about it."
Now that the 2019-20 school year is finished, Akinbode-James and Ezeh will not be able to return home to Nigeria. But they will continue to raise awareness for their country during the fight against COVID-19. The players cannot express how thankful they are for the donations that were made to COVID Fund Naija.
"I just want to give a quick shout out to everyone who has been of support of this movement," Ezeh replied. "Thank you all for your trust and your ability to care for people with special needs through this time in Nigeria."
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