American Cola unveils revamped Ilupeju basketball court
August 12, 2026 4:57 am
•Planet Bottling Company’s Deputy Managing Director, Lokman Jouni (2nd right), with other PBC officials and Odi-Olowo Ojuwoye LCDA officials during the unveiling of the court…on Saturday. Photo: PBC
Planet Bottling Company, makers of American Cola, has unveiled the American Cola Creative Court following the complete transformation of the popular basketball court in Ilupeju, Lagos, in partnership with the Odi-Olowo Ojuwoye Local Council Development Area.
The renovated facility has been redesigned as a multi-purpose creative space aimed at promoting grassroots sports, urban culture and youth expression.
Speaking on the objectives of the project, Marketing Manager of Planet Bottling Company, Naji Awada, said the initiative was aimed at developing grassroots basketball and creating opportunities for young talents.
“This project is not about paints, new hoops or putting a logo on that fence. It is about renewing the passion for basketball, bringing talents here and hopefully raising stars here.
“It is about bringing communities together, building friendships and memories and making great talents. We are looking to do more in different communities. It is a long-term strategy and we will see a lot of our work in places you can’t imagine.”
Communications Manager of Planet Bottling Company, Franklyn Eluagu, said the company was identifying basketball communities across Lagos and looking for ways to improve facilities and create better conditions for players.
“For American Cola, globally, the countries that we belong to love basketball. In Lagos, we are identifying all the communities where they play basketball and seeing what we can do to improve the conditions of the players, the courts and the community to ensure there is growth of the game in Lagos and the country,” Eluagu said.
As part of the initiative, American Cola also presented sets of jerseys to the male and female basketball teams of the Odi-Olowo/Ojuwoye Local Council Development Area, with the kits expected to last the teams for the next two years.
Leader of the Legislative House of the LCDA, Olamilekan Adeyi, said the partnership was already benefiting youths in the area.
“The partnership has already started benefiting the youths of Odi-Olowo/Ojuwoye. We have lots of participants here and from other local governments coming to use this court.
“For us, it is a thing of pride to the local government that American Cola has deemed it fit to partner with us, with the local government taking the youths out of the streets through this and other sports,” Adeyi said.
The renovation coincided with the second edition of the American Cola Shoot the Hoop and Half Court tournaments, which featured 24 teams in each competition.
Some of the matches were played during the unveiling of the newly renovated court, with participating teams battling for a share of the ₦5m prize pool.
The winner of the Shoot the Hoop competition will receive ₦800,000, while the second- and third-placed teams will get ₦400,000 and ₦200,000 respectively.
In the Half Court competition, the winners will receive ₦2m, with ₦1m going to the runners-up and ₦500,000 to the third-placed team.
Abiodun, who reports Sports for PUNCH, covers different tiers of the Nigerian football league, the national teams, as well as cricket, in the last six years
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