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Former vice-president of the Nigeria Football Federation, NFF, Barr. Seyi Akinwunmi said Seyi Akinwunmi Charity Mini-Football Tournament is all about giving hope to children.
He made this disclosure when he spoke with some journalists at the NFF Secretariat, Package B of the Moshood Abiola National Stadium, Abuja.
Barr. Akinwunmi said, “When you give somebody hope, you are building life for him and that is what I am doing. Even if the children that will grace the tournament don’t get scholarship, even if they don’t get to play, having food to eat and drink, and play with others is enough to make them happy.”
He speaking further, “My motivation is giving children hope. A lot of these children are amazed. I went to Ilorin, Kwara State few weeks ago and one of the guardians came to greet me and asked if I know him, I said no. He said, you don’t know how you have changed the life of my family. Before I left the wedding, he went and bring his family and the child. The boy has finished school and he is in the University of Ilorin.
“There was a child when he was leaving, he came from IDP camp in Maiduguri, Borno State. He called one boy and said my best friend, I am leaving. The person he was talking about is from Ogun state. So you must understand these things and that is what all these are all about,” the NFF Presidential Candidate noted.
He however explained why they had different dates in the past and now. His words, “We are having the final of the tournament on the 29th of December. Last year, it was moved to the 23rd because of my 60th birthday but we have decided to move it back to the 29th.
“The Mini-Tournament is all about children. We are going to have about 400 children playing football simultaneously because we are having it at the Maracana stadium in Ajegunle, Lagos. So it is going to be a day of fun and we are going to have a lot of funfare. We are going to have various vendors where people can go from one vendor to another to have what to eat and drink. We will be there practically all day,” he noted.
Barr. Akinwunmi concluded by saying, “At the end of the day, we are going to give some of the children prizes which will not be announced now. We are also going to give grants to 20 children from six Geo-Political zones.
We have already written to the State Football Association. We are going to be choosing the best players from the tournament and reward them. He concluded.
