Chief Gbolahan Odele is quite known for his philanthropic gestures, not the least for his deep involvement in tennis development in Lagos, where he annually hosts over 200 kids from every part of Nigeria.
For four consecutive years, without fail, Chief Odele through his Gbolahan Odele Foundation, has invested millions of naira in getting ‘that one kid’ who can represent Nigeria at the Olympics or at any of the Grand Slam events.
The fourth edition, held in August, 2026, inside the Adejumo Tennis Complex, Ejigbo and Lagos Country Club, Ikeja simultaneously, was the biggest yet in the history of the age-grade tennis championship featuring boys and girls 12, 14, 16 and youth categories.
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Players from 21 States across Nigeria, many of whom were attending the event packaged by Badejo Sports for the first time, made their presence felt during the week-long event which was not without intrigues and drama by the youngsters.
The 2026 edition of the annual tournament ended with a couple of new winners at the championship for the first time. Revelations like Ameerah Adebayo and FCT’s Chidumto Obiora shone brightly in the girls’ U-12 finale before home girl Adebayo took the title with a 5-3, 0-4, 15-13 win while emerging tennis sensation Abdulmaleek Salau defeated Goodluck Onorode 4-2, 4-2 in the boys’ U-12 final.
One of Nigeria’s brightest tennis youngsters, Mabubat Rasaki from Oyo State fought hard to defeat Nasarawa-based Josephine Musa 4-1, 5-4 to claim the girls’ U-14 title just as Ogun State’s Testimony Friday bested Oloyede Abiodun 4-1, 4-1 to claim the boys’ U-14 title.
Kingsley Okiri took the boys’ U-16 title while Amir Mohammed and Toluwalase Agunbiade, the overwhelming favourites to win, emerged champions in the male and female of the youth category respectively.
At the end of the tennis competition in Lagos, an elated Chief Odele expressed his excitement at the success of yet another tennis championship, especially given the exponential rise in the number of the participants from the previous years.
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“I told you that when we started a few years ago, that I am really happy to do this every year for as long as God gives my family the power to do so.
“The desire remains the same, the goal remains the same, to be able to identify that one player who can represent Nigeria from our tournament, whom we can say that we discovered from the Gbolahan Odele Tennis Championship.
“If we are able to achieve this, I would have achieved the ai of hosting this many kids every year,” Chief Odele told Nigeria Tennis Live.
“This year, we were able to add a few sponsors, who have come on board to support us. We are grateful to Air Peace, Nutri-C, SAHCO and Union Bank for their support and we hope for bigger supports in the coming year as we look forward to the fifth edition of the competition,” he added.
Apart from the medals and trophies given to the winners and runner ups, they were also rewarded with education grants worth over N1million.
With the Gbolahan Odele Juniior Tennis Championship now becoming an annual event that junior players from every part of Nigeria now look forward to every August, it will not be too long before it becomes one of Nigeria’s most anticipated national junior tennis tournaments.
Congratulations to Chief Gbolahan Odele and Coach Dele Badejo whose partnership continues to provide a viable platform for young tennis kids in Nigeria to thrive.