2187 Athletes from 136 Schools Set for MTN CHAMPS Grand Final in Uyo

The stage is set for an enthralling rivalry as the MTN CHAMPS Uyo Grand Final takes place from May 6 to May 9 at the Godswill Akpabio Stadium in the Akwa Ibom State capital, with 2,187 athletes, including the 40 Most Valuable Performers (MVPs) selected from Benin and Lagos centres, set to battle for honours.

A Press Conference was held in Uyo yesterday to herald the competition, with several dignitaries in attendance. They included the Commissioner for Sports, Akwa Ibom State, Paul Bassey; Commissioner for Education, Prof Ubong Essien Umoh; President, Nigeria School Sport Federation (NSSF), Mrs Olabisi Joseph; General Manager, Brand and Communication, MTN, Emamoke Ogoro, and Regional Manager South South, MTN, Callima Inino.

Others were Making of Champions’ Country Manager, Deji Ogeyingbo; Director, Consumer Solutions, Beacon Power Services, Idara Michael; several Senior Managers and General Managers of MTN and Permanent Secretaries and Directors from the Akwa Ibom State Ministries of Sports and Education respectively.

Giving her opening remarks, MTN’s Ogoro highlighted the brand’s vision for the initiative, which has become Nigeria’s biggest secondary school Athletics competition.

She said: “Thank you so much for coming on this journey to develop the future of Athletics for Nigeria. The dream of having Nigeria on the world stage is a strong vision that we all should join hands to accomplish. Two seasons ago, precisely in 2023, the MTN CHAMPS dream was born. Over time, we’ve had over 15,000 athletes across 900 schools starting from the Cadet (U-14) level, to every other age group participating in this event.

“The most profound thing that matters to this brand is that we stand for the progress of Nigerians, and looking into grassroots development is a fulcrum of pivoting all our youngsters to pursue their dreams. And so, it gladdens my heart that when we go for these events, we’re beginning to see people breaking their personal records, and so a big congratulations to us for having accomplished this in such a short time.”

Giving his speech on behalf of MoC, Ogeyingbo reiterated the organisers’ dream for the competition: “The goal of MTN CHAMPS is to go across all of the states. Every Nigerian child deserves this opportunity, and we try our possible best to ensure that we create a platform that gives them this opportunity. Having come here to Uyo in Season 1, it was imperative that we came here again. Thank you very much for keeping this facility in its pristine shape and still giving our kids opportunity to run in a world class stadium”, he said.

Representing the Executive Governor of Akwa Ibom State, Elder Bassey expressed the state’s delight in hosting the Grand Final.

He said: “When MTN applied to see our governor, it was expressly granted because he believed in the cause that they were coming to see him for, which is the development of the youths, so I really want to thank MTN and MoC for what they are doing.

“Let me also use this opportunity to say that this administration is also planning a state-of-the-art Sports Academy, because it’s not only enough to discover those talents; they must be nurtured, and you must give them the benefit of education, because whether you like it or not, after 10 years, after 12 years, sports will leave you, but it is that education that will sustain you. We support this initiative wholeheartedly, and we’re happy that we are the ones hosting it,” he concluded.