07/06/2019
Soccer In Contemporary Nigeria
During the eid Mubarak I was strolling around my neighborhood and I saw a huge crowd gathered around a primary school fence. Keke drivers,hawkers,drivers and even people returning from the sallah prayers and I was amazed when I got to the scene and discovered it was a mock inter-ethnic tournament comprising of Igbo groups,Akwa Ibom,Ogoni and Eleme people. The sweetest part of it all was that these players were men in their fifties. The tournament started around 10:00am in the morning and ended in the evening hours with Eleme community lifting the trophy. In spite of the rain,people still watched the games and everyone was excited. Now this tournament was taking place somewhere in Akpajo-Eleme,a few miles from Port Harcourt city. The event refreshed my memory on how our States and various communities in Nigeria operated before. It is not strange why most of our youths have turned to crime and cultism across the Nation. Besides unemployment,there are little room for recreational activities which hitherto kept the youths occupied and happy. Most of the playgrounds have been used for building plazas and business centers,all the government/company sponsored competitions have gone into extinction. All the headmaster cup,principal cup,cowbell competition,shell cup etc have gradually faded away and so leaving young ones to device their own definition of what fun should look like and that's why gang related activities is now prevalent. We cannot overemphasize the importance of sports especially football in the Nigerian society. Nigerians are born with inbuilt football skills. As a child our parents just buy us a soccer ball and throw it to us and in few years time the child is doing wonders with that ball which no one thought him how to kick or raise. Elsewhere in the world,children are groomed and skills inculcated in them from very tender age. And this is another reason where players from Europe have longer playing time in their career because they start very early while their African counterpart is still struggling to direct his talent. The point of this write up cannot be far-fetched,we live in a Nigeria that has been overtaken by unemployment,violence and crime almost in a nationwide scale. And part of the reason for this is that we have all failed to harness our human resources effectively. Football apart from being a multi-million dollar business also has the potential to douse crime and violence and this is true when we consider that the armed robbers,kidnappers and other outlaws are all young men between the ages of 18-35. These are people who are vibrant and should not be abandoned to redundance else they diversify and redirect their energy into something unprofitable. There has to be a deliberate attempt by the government/private sector/other stakeholders including parents to channel the talents of our teeming population towards a greater Nigeria. And football has the potential not to only improve our economic life but also to entertain the society and reduce the rate of crime and violence which mostly occur out of boredom and redundance. Phoenix Soccer Agency represents an opportunity for young ones to have their talents harnessed and groomed for greatness. The academy is in collaboration with partners from Europe,Asia and other African countries and their sole aim is to nurture young football talents to greatness. The era of wastage is over,let us invest in our wards by giving them the preliminary experience needed to foster their mental and physical growth and development in the game of soccer. Football is a big business and a business as this requires a big commitment. Phoenix Soccer Agency is committed to taking your soccer dreams to enviable height. Follow the page and drop your comments and questions and you will be guided on how to enroll into the Academy at a very affordable rate. Some of our boys have their videos clips already floating in Europe and Asia and some are in other African countries where they will hopefully join the feeder teams of some big clubs in the continent. We look forward to partnering with future stars and together we shall achieve greatness and make our Nation recover its lost glory. Teeyira Dumle
