A board member of the Nigeria Football Federation, Aisha Falode, has declared that the dividend of the Oyo Unity Cup, a grassroots football competition sponsored by the Minister of Sports, Sunday Dare, will soon manifest in the country’s football fortunes.
Falode said yesterday afternoon at the Soun Stadium, Ogbomosho, Oyo State that the grassroots competition is aimed at boosting the development of football and sports generally in the country.
Falode, who is also the Chairperson of the Nigeria Women Football League, noted that a sizeable number of future football stars will annually be discovered from the grassroots football competition.
“All the country’s top soccer stars were discovered from the grassroots. This is a nursery for the national teams and club football.
“You cannot build a house from the top, it must be from the foundation and the Oyo Unity Cup represents the foundation, the grassroots. This is a platform to identify football talents we all need as a country to service the various football clubs and the national teams. This is what we have seen here today.”
Aisha Falode also commended the initiative of the Minister of Sports.
“We must commend the Minister for the Oyo Unity Cup here in Ogbomosho. If we have programmes like this replicated across all the local governments areas in Nigeria, there would be a pool of players to draw from good enough to replace ageing top soccer stars who have served their fatherland for donkey years and needed to retire,” she said.
Falode, used the opportunity to applaud the Sports Minister’s excellent contributions to the development of other sports such as badminton, beach soccer, handball, para-powerlifting and volleyball among others.
“What we have seen in Mr. Sunday Dare, is a Minister who is not only talking the talk but working the talk. He has said he is not a Minister of Football and in everything he has done since he resumed office, has demonstrated that. Indeed, he is a true Minister of Sports. Don’t forget, he has also made meaningful developmental impact in handball, basketball, athletics, gymnastics, boxing and wrestling,” concludes Falode.
