By Lekan Olaseinde
Abuja
The Ambassador of Global Peace Advocacy And Empowerment Initiative GPAEI, His Royal Highness Udumeze 111 of Lokpanta, Eze Sir Ifeanyi Eke has vowed to used his position to reclaim several basketball courts site in the FCT turned to private use by intruders.
The newly installed ambassador made the pledge Wednesday in Abuja when he was conferred with the honour of GPAEI.
The Eze who is an icon of hope, a philanthropist, a former basketball player and a life patron of the GPAEI/NDLEA War Against Drug Abuse Campaign.
According to him, “I have put a memo on the table of the Minister of FCT to recover all the basketball sites in FCT and equally to rehabilitate them basketball sites in all parts of the FCT as the case may be.
“Once we engage the youth in doing sports not only basketball but even football, youth must be gainfully engaging, if you don’t engage them issues of drug abuse are not going to stop because it’s a societal issue and if society doesn’t frown at it the thing will continue.
“So my main aim is to go to grassroots and engage the youth, if we can engage them gainfully with sports after school by providing enable environment that will enable them to have clubs that can use to mentor them.
“If the youth are not mentored very well then there is a problem.
“That is why I am using sports as a tool and one of the sports I want to use is basketball the game I love and the game I played to advance many youth in the country.”
He, however, called on all the players to keep off the drugs and alcohol that will not do them any good but damage their life.
“I want to use this medium to call on all players to shun all forms of the drug because drugs remain the virus that spoilt the fruit,” he said.
Speaking also was Coach Emmanuel Odah who expressly thumbs up what the Royal Highness Udumeze 111 of Lokpanta Eze Sir Ifeanyi Eke is doing to reclaim all the converted basketball facilities.
“It’s a welcome development because what has been the problem is facilities and equipment if we have more facilities in the FCT that means we are going to turn out more superstars for the future”
Speaking earlier, Dr. Sadik Gbadamasi Ibrahim eulogized the Royal Highness Eze Ifeanyi Eke for his immense contribution to youth development and empowerment over the years.
