The Nigeria Football Federation and the Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC) have agreed to a fruitful collaboration that will see Nigeria challenging strongly for honors in the yearly African Schools Football Championship and also compel sporting infrastructure renewal in Nigeria’s pre-tertiary educational institutions.

Speaking during a courtesy call on the Executive Secretary of UBEC, Dr. Hamid Bobboyi,  on Monday, NFF President, Alhaji Ibrahim Musa Gusau, explained that the yearly competition can spur infrastructural upgrade in Nigeria’s primary and secondary schools, lead to the discovery of talents even beyond the imaginable and assure Nigeria’s football future.

He said: “The African Schools Football Championship is for U13 and U15 pupils, and is organised by CAF. There are so many benefits for the winning school, with a prize money of $1 million that will be used to provide football infrastructure for the winning school.

“I see no reason why our schools should not compete strongly, as a triumph for one school in the country will have a multiplier effect on other schools.

“We have come to UBEC because this matter falls squarely within its purview. Last year, the NFF worked with the Nigeria School Sports Federation (NSSF) to produce representative schools in the male and female categories to fly Nigeria’s flag, in our debut in the competition.

“However, we believe we should expand the scope and get more schools involved, to have a very strong representation and stand the chance of winning both trophies.”

Gusau also disclosed that the NSSF has concluded plans to kick off the state preliminaries of the boys and girls’ competitions this month, with the WAFU-B Tournament scheduled for the Niger Republic in November, at which the WAFU-B flagbearers for the continental finals will emerge.

In reply, UBEC Executive Secretary, Dr. Bobboyi, praised the leadership of the NFF for the visit and pledged the full co-operation of UBEC to the project.
He said: “Infrastructural deficit is a big challenge in our primary and junior secondary schools, and this project will help to speed up our efforts to restore the good old days of standard facilities and equipment in our schools.

“Since 2018, we have been making efforts to restore sporting infrastructure in our schools, by appealing to state governments and providing the equipment that we can. Many countries of the world specifically offer scholarships to athletes simply because of their sporting abilities. Sports help children to develop physically and mentally, and we also must safeguard the future of sports by taking practical steps to unearth talents from the schools and the grassroots that can be nurtured for glory.”