Football has always been considered a great leveler that transcends barriers and is known to promote camaraderie and unity even amongst strangers.
Once you are a part of a team on the football field, your teammates’ ability, age, background or gender stops mattering. What unites the team is a common goal to win a match.
This very essence of football was amply and ably demonstrated for the past 10 years during the annual Sheyi Akinwumi Mini-Football Tournament held in Lagos on every December 29.
The aim of the tournament was to foster love and give hope to children no matter their backgrounds, religion or political afflictions and spearheading the drive is former vice president of the Nigeria Football Federation, NFF, Barrister Seyi Akinwunmi who disclosed that the Seyi Akinwunmi Charity Mini-Football Tournament is all about giving hope to children.
He made this disclosure when he spoke with a group of sportswriters at the NFF Secretariat, Package B of the Moshood Abiola National Stadium, Abuja.
“When you give somebody hope, you are building life for him and that is what I am doing. Even if the children that will grace the tournament don’t get scholarship, even if they don’t get to play, having food to eat and drink, and play with others is enough to make them happy.”
“My motivation is giving children hope. A lot of these children are amazed. I went to Ilorin, Kwara State few weeks ago and one of the guardians came to greet me and asked if I know him, I said no. He said, you don’t know how you have changed the life of my family. Before I left the wedding, he went and bring his family and the child. The boy has finished school and he is in the University of Ilorin or so.
“There was a child when he was leaving, he came from IDP camp in Maiduguri, Borno State. He called one boy and said my best friend, I am leaving. The person he was talking about is from Ogun state. So you must understand these things and that is what all these are all about,” the NFF Presidential Candidate noted.
‘The Mini-Tournament is all about children. We are going to have about 400 children playing football simultaneously because we are having it at the Maracana stadium in Ajegunle, Lagos. So it is going to be a day of fun and we are going to have a lot of funfare. We are going to have various vendors where people can go from one vendor to another to have what to eat and drink. We will be there practically all day,” he noted.
“At the end of the day, we are going to give some of the children prizes which will not be announced now. We are also going to give grants to 20 children from six geo-political zones. We have already written to the State Football Association. We are going to be choosing the best players from the tournament and reward handsomely.”
The finals of the tournament will hold at the Maracana stadium in Ajegunle, Lagos on December 29.
Over 400 school children from all parts of the country are expected to take part in the mini-tournament.
