1 week Ago By Ebenezer Bajela
SOS Children’s Villages, one of the largest non-governmental organisations in the world, has revealed its intention to partner with Ministry of Sports Development and stakeholders in discovering talents in the country, The PUNCH reports. Ayodeji Adelopo, Chief Programme Officer at SOS Children’s Villages, who represented the National Director, Eghosa Erhumwunse, made this known at the sideline of the annual National Director Cup of the SOS Children’s Villages at the Mobolaji Johnson Arena, Onikan, Lagos, on Saturday. Speaking on the future of the kids, especially those who took part in the final, Adelopo said the body that focusses on supporting children without parental care and families at risk is seeking partnership with the sports ministry and other stakeholders to help discover talents and give a brighter future to the kids.
“Most importantly for us, it’s the fact that young people have realised that they can build a connection with one another and they can also improve their self-esteem by taking advantage of the opportunities that we have given them by expressing the talents that they have,” he said. “When it comes to exploring the potential that young people have in sports, we are looking at working with other stakeholders, including the sports ministry; some of the talents being discovered might have further opportunities going forward.” Related News NGO partners INEC to tackle voting barriers for people with disabilities Kaduna, NGO empower women with clean cookstoves KieKie offers new car, N30m in talent hunt It was a befitting end to the annual National Director Cup of the SOS Children’s Villages played at the Mobolaji Johnson Arena, Onikan, Lagos, with Team Lagos defeating Team Jos 2-0 to lift the trophy.
A second-half brace from the captain of Team Lagos, Shuaib Akinwande, helped the Centre of Excellence team emerge as champions of the 2024 edition of the tournament. Adelopo said it was a befitting end to a competition that started in August with the Regional Preliminaries from all SOS Children’s Village locations: Abuja, Plateau, and Borno programmes competed in the Northern region, while Lagos, Ogun, Edo, and Oyo programs battled in the Southern region for a place in the finals. “It has been an interesting time since the start of the competition; this was born out of the vision of the National Director, Eghosa Erhumwunse, who believes that we can harness the strength of our young people and leverage their interests in sports, particularly football, to help them build competencies and life skills that would also improve their confidence as individuals and also make them capable and compassionate young people even as they develop in their community,” he added.
“I would say that in all, we have seen several young people come to discover their talents. We’ve seen young people learn to work together, and social connections are being built.”.
