Nyakana picked charity over boxing

Boston. On one of his regular visits to the US, the late coach Musa Kent knocked on the door where a 5-foot-9 inch bantamweight boxer lived. It was 2006. He proposed to Andrew “Dru” Nyakana to consider boxing for his native Uganda national team. Nyakana, then at University of Nevada, did not know whether he was ready. He accepted the offer, anyway. Kent was then a brand name, a man, like his co-coach Dick Katende, highly honoured by his students and fans.
“When I got summoned, every Ugandan boxer here asked me who had summoned me and when I said Kent, they always had something nice to say about him,” Nyakana recalls of the man who made world champion Kassim Ouma.

Idolising fallen coach Kent
Kent died in 2011. For the time I worked closely with him, he was professionalism personified. Spotlight-averse, environment-oriented, absolutely no frills. In many ways, the Bombers were a reflection of Kent. At several competitions he was in charge of the team, they were never a pushover. They returned home with several accolades despite the poor funding.
Kent just didn’t drag Nyakana into the Bombers team. Instead, he monitored him closely. Whenever he visited the USA, he would personally give Nyakana coaching sessions to determine how ready he was for national duty.
“I knew coach Kent for three years before going for Aiba. He was a very special person in my life and I will always idolize him. I still hold him high,” Nyakana said. “Coach Kent was a regular visitor in the USA on the invitation of Kassim Ouma who always wanted his help before title fights. During that period, he (Kent) would get time and watch me train, also give me some drills. For those three years, he always asked me if I wanted to join the Bombers. I will always treasure him because he gave me a chance to do something positive for my country.”
Kent was in Ouma’s corner when he lost his IBF World super welterweight title by unanimous decision to Roman Karmazin in 2005.
Much has been written about the Bombers of 2007 who represented Uganda at the Aiba World Boxing Championship in Chicago, USA. The squad of five had four boxers from Uganda: Sharif Bogere, Ismail Muwendo, Philip Adyaka and Edward Akora vanish into different parts of USA, except Nyakana, who already lived in the land of opportunities.
Nyakana was a special case. He made it to the Bombers’ team with no prior amateur record in Uganda. He also paid for his entire expenses for the Championship.

He made his international debut on Nov 3, 2007 at the Aiba World Boxing Championship, breaking boxing stereotypes that to fight at such a big stage, one needs to have an amateur pedigree. Aged 27 years then, he lost to Ishankuliyev Allaberdy of Turkmenistan on points in the bantamweight first preliminaries. The other two Ugandans, captain Akora and Muwendo were also stopped at the same stage in their respective divisions, while Bogere and Adyaka never entered the ring.

On why he never pursued boxing at a professional level, Nyakana said he had a lot of demands that promoters who wanted to sign him were not willing to meet. Also, he said, by the time he came to Chicago, he was already employed, juggling work and university at the same time. He could not sacrifice either.

True, Nyakana was ‘anonymous’ in Ugandan sport during his call-up to the Bombers but he was an established athlete in the USA. He had excelled in sports that require short bursts of speed, sustained cardiovascular activity, he also had great history of boxing at the University of Nevada, where he was the bantamweight champion for two years, the same title he held at the national championships.

At Virginia Tech, where he did his high school, Nyakana excelled at State level in both basketball and soccer but after his relocation to Las Vegas for his university education, he concentrated on boxing. “I remember winning several player-of-the-week accolades both in soccer and basketball during my high school and college days. I was involved in most sports activities until I joined university and decided to stick to boxing for better management of my time,” Nyakana recalls.

Riddick mission
As an athlete Nyakana was defined by relentless hustle and total commitment to team over self. He was extraordinarily thoughtful and generous for those in need, as illustrated by how he solicits for bursaries for talented but destitute Ugandan children.

Unlike his teammates who chose to proceed with boxing post Aiba 2007, Nyakana instead embarked on charity under the brand name of Riddick Mission, in memory of Lillian Riddick, the lady who gave him the opportunity to come to USA, 24 years ago.
“My approach is to help any child who has a potential of becoming a productive member of society but lacks things like school fees, food and clothing,” Nyakana said. “Currently I’m taking care of 18 children. I deal with head teachers in different schools around Uganda. I make payments of half or full bursaries depending on the level of talent. I feel good doing this because, personally my life was changed when I was helped to come here.”

Nyakana went to the US in the summer of 1995, thanks to Lillian Riddick (RIP), a visiting nurse from Virginia who was then working with Church of Uganda. She saw raw talent in him that she aided his coming to America. Nyakana did not disappoint. He worked his way up through the school system until university, where he graduated with Bachelor’s in Political Science and Sociology. In addition to the Riddick Mission, Nyakana also runs a tourism business (Riddick Safari) and real estate business in his home town of Las Vegas, Nevada, USA. He is living the American dream.

Experience with coach Kent
“I knew coach Kent for three years before going for Aiba. He was a very special person in my life and I will always idolize him. I still hold him high. Coach Kent was a regular visitor in the USA on the invitation of Kassim Ouma, who always wanted his help before title fights. During that period, he (Kent) would get time and watch me train, also give me some drills. For those three years, he always asked me if I wanted to join the Bombers. I will always treasure him because he gave me a chance to do something positive for my country.” ANDREW NYAKANA. FORMER UGANDAN BOMBER

Coming To America. Nyakana went to the US in the summer of 1995, thanks to Lillian Riddick (RIP), a visiting nurse from Virginia who was then working with Church of Uganda. She saw raw talent in him that she aided his coming to America.

At glance
Name: Andrew Nyakana
Parents: Teddy Kintu Nakidde (mother)
Gilbert Nyakana (father, RIP)
Schools: Alpha Pri (P1-P7)
St. Lawrence (Snr 1&2)
Alleuhany High, Virginia (4 years)
Virginia Tech & Blue Field (college)
University of Nevada
Bombers: 2007 Aiba World Boxing Championship