The Chairman of the House of Representatives Committee on Public Accounts, Rep. Bamidele Salam, has described football as the most passionate, interesting, and participatory sporting event globally.
Rep. Salam stated this while addressing the audience at the kickoff ceremony of the fifth edition of the Isiaka Adetunji Adeleke Memorial Football Competition, held at the Osogbo Township Stadium on Sunday.
The lawmaker urged the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) and the National Sports Commission to focus on developing grassroots talents by developing local football and sponsoring players to attend football academies in Nigeria and worldwide.
He added that sponsoring players to attend football academies would help sharpen their skills, making them more globally competitive.
According to him, the 5th edition of the Isiaka Adetunji Adeleke Memorial Football Competition would showcase young players’ talents, leaving a lasting impression, just like past editions.
He said the competition will have representatives from the 30 local government areas of the state, showcasing their usual energy and talents embedded in young persons.
According to him, “In past years, Nigerian players are the most popular in Africa and some of the best in the world. But now, it’s our musicians. I’m not saying it’s not good as Davido, Wizkid and others are dominating the world, but we should not lose that which we originally have, which is a reputation that we have in football all over the world. The Commission should work towards reviving that area. It’s very important.”
In his own remarks, the Chairman of the Organizing Committee of the Competition, Oladele Bamiji, announced that the competition will run until January 15, 2025, which is the posthumous birthday of the late Isiaka Adeleke.
According to Bamiji, “we are excited to kick off this year’s competition today and this is the fifth edition of the contest.”
He explained that the competition will feature one from each of the local government areas and the knockout stage has commenced with a match between Orolu local government and Osogbo local government.
He said, “the final match is used to mark the posthumous birthday of the first civilian governor of Osun State, the late Otunba Isiaka Adetunji Adeleke.”
Bamiji also announced that the President of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) is expected to attend the finals.
At the end of the first game, Orolu local government triumphed over the Osogbo 5:4 on penalties after a pulsating 2:2 draw at the regular time.
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