The opening of the 6th edition of Mailafia peace & unity cup has gathered flocks of people from the southern part of Nasarawa State, to cheer their players up at the tournament as the Defending Champions, Greater Tomorrow Football Club ( FC) of Lafia defeated Daddare FC 2 – 1 played in Daddare, Obi Local Government Area of Nasarawa the State.
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The game which was played on Saturday at the Daddare Government Secondary School playing field, barely 15 minutes into the game, saw Shehu Mohammed of Greater Tomorrow FC scoring the first goal.
In the 32nd minute, Adamu Umar of Daddare FC’s, equalized to end the game all before the mark of an hour.
However, the resumption of the second half saw both sides trading tackles with one another until the 75th minute when another player, Alakija Habibu of Greater Tomorrow netted another goal for the Lafia-based side to snatch the important Three points at the blast of the final whistle thus, ending the First match of the Sixth edition Two-One to the admiration of spectators.
In a post-match interview with journalists, the organizer of the tournament, CSP Yakubu Mailafia, said the essence of the competition was to allow the youths to showcase their talents and promote the game of football at the grassroots because Sports has become for social and economic transformation globally.
Mailafia further explain that the aim was also to consolidate the peace and unity which hitherto established from the 1st edition of the tournament and assured of better outings in subsequent editions.
“The 6th edition of this tournament is a deviation from the normal ones. We are used to 16 teams playing in the 1st to 5th edition of the competition, however, this time around we started with 32 teams and we are hoping to grow on it.
“It is clear that everybody is excited and we are having a feel of good football my passion is to continue to develop football at the grassroots because this aspect has been neglected.
” We are also having a lot of plans for under 10 and 12 because we want to grow them at that early stage and we hope to have income that will help us go into teens football and subsequently we will start developing the women aspect too, ” he noted
Also in an interview, the Chairman, of Nasarawa State Universal Basic Education Board ( NSUBEB), Hon. Muhammed Dan’azimi (Barayan Daddare) commended the sponsor of the tournament, calling on the people of the state to support the initiative.
He, therefore said that NSUBEB was synergizing with the state Ministry of Youth and Sports Development to revitalize sporting competitions in both primary and secondary Schools across the state to harness talents from the younger ones adding that Modalities are on to ensure that the vision is achieved in no distant time.
On his part, Former Coach of Nasarawa United FC and current technical adviser of Wikki Tourists FC of Bauchi State, Kabiru Dogo said the competition will no doubt harness talents that will stand a chance in Nigeria’s premiership leagues.
” We appreciate the sponsor of the tournament for the wonderful work he has been doing with the youths at the grassroots and call on the people of the state to support him,” he said.
Speaking in separate interviews, the All Progressives Congress ( APC) candidate for Obi I constituency at the State House of Assembly in the 2023 general election, Barr Farouk Ofoku, and the Chief Executive Officer ( CEO), Energy Global Resources, Hon. Nuhu Danlami both commended Mailafia for his initiative.
They said that the tournament will go a long way in promoting peaceful coexistence among the diverse ethnic groups in the State as well as address youths’ restiveness.
The duo, therefore, called on youths to shun all acts capable of creating confusion during the forthcoming general election and come out en mass to canvas support for candidates of their choice.
The competition which began on the 15th of October 2022, will end on the 26th of December this year.
