Anthony Adeboye, the senior special assistant to the Lagos state governor on sports has said more youths in the state are to be empowered through increased sporting activities that give the opportunity to them to maximise their talents.
Adeboye, alongside other aides of Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu, stated this at a news conference on Sunday, to unveil the ‘BOS Youth Cup’ with the aim to positively engage the youths and help them channel their energies to productive use.
The football tournament which will draw youth participants from the 20 local government areas of Lagos is being organised by Babajide Sanwo-Olu Academy, an initiative of the governor’s aides.
Adeboye said the tournament was one of the key programmes under Governor Sanwo-Olu’s administration THEMES developmental agenda targeted to achieve the greater Lagos dream.
“This is a deliberate policy of Mr. Governor due to the very important position the youth demographic occupies in the country’s population. Records show that the youths occupy about 45 percent of Nigeria’s population and when broken down to states, Lagos has the highest number of the youth demographic in Nigeria, standing at 54 percent.”
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He reaffirmed the governor’s belief in the youth population, hence the creation of many interventions across different spheres of life, speaking to the specific needs of youth in the state.
“The governor recognises the myriad of challenges facing the youth and the government. The governor and his executive team have vowed to tackle these challenges head-on in line with the THEMES developmental agenda and 2nd Pillar, Goal 3 of the Lagos resilience strategy, which is a plan to prepare the youth for a changing economy.”
The senior special adviser added that the BOS Youth Cup, like other youth-based strategies of Mr. Governor, is one of such opportunities for youths in the state to explore, achieve their potential and come into limelight.
“We have no doubt that this will directly have positive impacts on individual families, the communities and the state at large.”
Adeboye said the initiative would unlock the doors for discovering budding talents and serve as a catalyst for the development of the nation’s local league, thereby forming the pivot for recruitment into the national team.
“It will also empower many youths and further create business opportunities for other stakeholders with a multiplier effect on the state’s economy, ” he said.
He explained that the BOS Youth Cup would be a yearly tournament for promising football talents under the age of 21, adding the competition would engage youths across all local government areas, council development areas within the state through a dedicated website.
“The final stage of the inaugural BOS Youth Cup is scheduled to take place at the Mobolaji Johnson Sports Arena, Onikan, with the governor himself handing the trophy to the winning team.
“It is pertinent to state that this tournament is designed to be ranked by the various football governing bodies with a view to making it an international event in the forthcoming years. We are currently working with various governing bodies to be able to achieve this.’’
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