By NwoghaNdubuisi Andy
Special Assistant to Ebonyi state Governor on Internal Security Capital City and Utility, saint NchekwubeAnakor, on Monday 21st September,2020 during the final of the football Compensation organized by his office reemphasized on the need to harness the potentials of youths within the capital city through sports as not engaging them has posed serious threat to security.
He made the call at Urban Model Secondary School in Abakaliki, the state capital, which saw victorious Football Club, triumphed over the Urban Boys Football team with one goal to nothing.
Saint Nchekwube, who earlier pledged to support the tournament With the sum of one hundred thousand naira, also pledged to support the next tournament with the sum of two hundred thousand naira.
According to him,“I am very delighted with what I saw here today, you can attest to the fact that the youths are happy, I said it that you must engage the youths.
“if you don’t engage them they will engage themselves and when they engage themselves you know what it means, it means crime. so that is why we want to engage them.
“I want to make sure that our youths are responsible, I want to sale our youths, many of them here have the capacity to play in Europe.
“I want to assure you that this is just the beginning, because of what I have seen today, and because of the way the organizers did it;we are going to repeat this competition, we are going to make it in a better and bigger way.
“I pledged a hundred thousand on this, the next one iam going to make it two hundred thousand naira; you may not know the potentialities in you, you are great footballers; they played wonderfully like professionals.
“which means if these youths are given a better position, they will do better; we as government in line with our visionary Governor of the state,Engr.DaveUmahi, will try to market them, I will take it as a responsibility to market them.”
He added that he intends to initiate a partnership program with beverage companies to support the tournament, which according to him, would soon become a league to boost sports activities in the capital city, while encouraging the youths to resist every forms of crime as there’s better future that lies ahead.
He pleaded with the organizers of the competition to increase the number of participating teams from six to sixteen, to accommodate other teams within the capital city for the next tournament which he said would be a form of encouragement to the young generation of footballers in the state by inviting special guest from Enugu state to scout for players.
“I want you to increase the participating teams to sixteen, I want us to play it like a league, which will start on October, to end in the first or second week of December”.
In the event were Dr. UcheOnwe, the chairman of Abakaliki Capital Territory Development Board among others who lauded governor David Umahi for creating an enabling environment for sports activities to resume in the state, while advising the youths to remain focus and learn to be productive, and embrace the spirit of sportsmanship.
Saint Nchekwube Anakor handing over Cup to the winning team