The Office of Her Excellency, the First Lady of Nigeria, has approved ‘Playing for Good’ as the theme for the highly anticipated Dr Aisha Buhari Invitational Women’s Football Tournament that the City of Lagos is hosting from 13 – 21 of September, 2021.
Chairman of the Local Organizing Committee for the tournament, Seyi Akinwunmi, said the theme resonated with the vision and mission of the organizing committee in using the tournament to uphold the honour of the name and Office of Her Excellency.
The aim is to also highlight the values of the Aisha Buhari Foundation, while building and sustain positive narratives about the City of Lagos and Nigeria at large.
“Now that we have the theme, our media and marketing teams should work overtime to drive the message home to every Nigerian and to inspire the confidence and actual buy-in of the political and business environments in the Dr Aisha Buhari Invitational Tournament,” Akinwunmi said.
“As I keep saying, the principal objectives of this tournament include hosting a very successful tournament that reflects in totality the decency, decorum and excellence for which Her Excellency is known and respected globally. And also to promote and project the beauty, splendour of Lagos and the Nigeria nation.”
Earlier, the Office of the First Lady and Members of the Local Organizing Committee met to synchronize the vision and mission for the tournament, known as the Aisha Buhari Cup.
At a meeting in the State House, Abuja, the two teams also deliberated and harmonized strategies, methods, measures and means to achieve the short-term and long-term objectives of the tournament, and also on how to deliver a hitch-free showpiece.
Six women’s national teams are scheduled to converge in Lagos, Nigeria for the maiden edition of the Nigeria’s First Lady invitational tournament, tagged ‘Aisha Buhari Cup’ from September 13 to 20, 2021.
The six competing women’s national teams are Cameroon, Mali, South Africa, Morocco, Ghana and host nation, Nigeria. The 7-day competition will be played at two stadia in the nation’s commercial capital, which includes newly built Onikan Stadium & Agege Stadium
On August 4, Mali announced its provisional squad list for 2021 Aisha Buhari Cup, with 38 players including foreign based professionals. On August 11, Cameroon became the latest country to unveil its provisional squad list of 30 local players, which will be trimmed before the addition of the foreign based stars.
At the meeting, the First Lady’s team was led by Chief of Staff to the First Lady and SSA to the President on Administration and Women Affairs in the Office of the First Lady, Rukayyatu Abdulkareem Turin; Technical Assistant to the Presidential Economic Advisory Council, Mohammed Kamal, alongside other top officials of the Presidency.
The LOC led by its Chairman, Seyi Akinwunmi also had Aisha Falode (Director of Organisation), Amina Daura (Deputy Director of Organization), Ibrahim Musa Gusau (Member), Ayo Omidiran (Member), Wole Aboderin and Sa’idu Suleiman (who both represent the Office of the First Lady on the LOC), Kemi Areola (Member) and Taye Ige (Marketing Consultant). General Secretary of the NFF, Mohammed Sanusi, were also present.
The parley discussed broadly about the organization and long-term concept of the Invitational Tournament, the collaboration between the LOC, the Office of the First Lady and the Aisha Buhari Foundation and the enhancement of global visibility of the Future Assured programme.
A Football Conference is planned for the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja in a couple of weeks to further sensitize and galvanize the political and business environments to the principal objectives of the week-long tournament.
Her Excellency’s Future Assured (FA), an arm of the Aisha Buhari Foundation, seeks to actively advocate for the health and well-being of women and children through community mobilization and health promotion.
