The Acting Governor of Delta State, Sir Monday Onyeme, has called on the private sector and corporate organizations to partner with the state government in sponsoring and development of any sporting event.
Onyeme stated this on Thursday at the kick-off of the 2024 edition of the Zenith Bank Delta Principals’ Cup at the St. Patrick’s College, Asaba.
Onyeme who took the kick off at the opening football match between Zappa Mixed Secondary School and Zappa Basic Secondary School both in Asaba, said the Principal’s cup had blossomed over the years to become a symbol of unity, passion, love and talent hunt in the game of football.
The Acting Governor lauded the various teams for their dedication and sportsmanship, which he said had sustained the competition, adding that the competition was beyond football but about building character, fostering teamwork and shaping leaders of tomorrow.
He said about five hundred and forty four secondary schools across the state have registered to participate in the tournament at the preliminary level.
He said: “Football, as we all know, is more than just a game. It teaches us invaluable lessons of life on how to handle victory and defeat and to persevere in the face of challenges.
“Students gain experiences on team work that facilitates achieving a common goal. These lessons will serve the students well in all areas of life. Players across the globe have become billionaires plying their trade across many countries. Let us use this competition to justify the saying of catch them young.”
Onyeme said out of the participating schools, one champion would emerge from each local government area to meet at the zonal stage at eight venues, adding that the number would continue to trickle down to the last two finalists that would play the final match.
He commended Zenith Bank PLC for identifying with the state government in promoting schools sports and Hide Plus Limited for bringing the idea into fruition,and expressed the hope that it would be extended to other areas.
The Commissioner for Secondary Education, Mrs Rose Ezewu said the competition promises to be full of action as public and private secondary schools across the state are participating in the tournament.
She said the winner of this year’s tournament would represent Delta State in the forthcoming secondary schools football competition in Nigeria and commended Zenith Bank for sponsoring the annual event.
In her own submission, Dame Adaora Umeoji, the CEO of Zenith Bank, represented by the branch head, Asaba, Dr. Ifeanyi Attama, thanked the state government “for giving us the latitude to contribute to grassroots football talent discovery at both primary and secondary school levels simultaneously.”
Tony Pemu, the Consultant to Zenith Bank and CEO of HideaPlus, said there is marked improvement in the organization of the tournament, now in its 7th edition, adding there has been a concerted efforts at eradicating age cheats.
“We may not be able to totally eradicate age cheats and the use of mercenaries but so far, we can pride ourselves to say we have reduced this to the very minimum,” he said.
“As at today, we have introduced the use of NIN. We’re working with NIN to ensure that every school is verified. We do our screening by use of NIN.
“Beside that we have been able to partner a few international academies to ensure that some of the talent that we would discover would be able to migrate into some major leagues,” he added.
In the official kick-off match, Basic Secondary School defeated Mixed Secondary School by a lone goal scored in the 13th minute of the encounter by Okwuchukwu Victor.
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