IT was a celebration of youth, brawns and imagination, as the Exceptional Child Care Initiative (ECCI) recently gathered children aged 11 years and below from 10 communities in Rivers State for a football and literary quiz competition.
Tagged Kick a Story into Secondary School, the inaugural annual competition held at the Liberation Stadium, Port Harcourt and saw children from Port Harcourt, Rumuomasi, Bundu Ama, Rumuibekwe, Rumuwokeaa, Rumuolemeni, Ogu, Abuloma, Presidential and Airforce communities, battle each other for prizes worth N200,000, N100, 000 and N75,000 for the first, second and third positions, respectively.
The children were each given Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart to read, from which quiz questions were set. Reading coaches were assigned to each team to adequately prepare them for the competition. Winners emerged based on cumulative points from the football and quiz segments.
ECCI is the Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) project vehicle of indigenous oil and gas company, Strides Energy and Maritime Limited.
Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Strides Energy, Mr Moritz Abazie, who is also the President and co–founder of ECCI, said during the tournament that “Children are the future of the nation. We have the opportunity to create our desired future by developing the capabilities of our children.”
Aside reviving the reading culture, project manager ECCI, Mrs. Georgina Ilechie, said the tournament was designed to explore the richness of proverbs as well as highlight the symmetry and depth of Nigerian literature.
According to her: “Things Fall Apart is one of the few Nigerian books to be made a movie and remains a classic every child should discover. Combining literature with football, a sporting sensation in Nigeria, the tournament provided a platform for structuring of community football teams and served as an out of school challenge for children.”
She noted that the competition is intended to engender community participation as well as keep children positively engaged during the long vacation.
At the end of the tournament, Port Harcourt community came first, while Rumuolumeni and Rumuomasi took second and third posotions, respectively.
The Rivers State Football Association; the Federal Inspectorate Service of the Ministry of Education Rivers State; National Youth Service Corp (NYSC); Strides Energy And Maritime Limited; CoolFm Port Harcourt and Jide Taiwo And Company (Estate Surveyors and Valuers) supported the tournament.
Established in 2012, ECCI’s aim is to collaborate with communities to establish cognitively structured recreational centers that helps in improving children’s thinking skills, using everyday activities. The method is geared to a creatively inspire fun, intellectual productivity and worthy memories.
