I write to commend the public-private partnership (PPP) initiative of the Oyo State government which has been integrated into the sports ministry.
The state Ministry of Youths and Sports, on Thursday, June 29, unveiled the Peller Unity Cup at the House of Chiefs, Agodi Secretariat, Ibadan.
Sports journalists at the event were excited about the programme. They expressed the belief that such an initiative, especially targeted at the grass roots to hunt for talents, would certainly bring about rapid growth in the sector.
The donor of the Peller Unity Cup, Chief Shina Peller, one of the sons of the late iconic entertainer, Professor Moshood Abiola Peller, in his address during the press conference held to kick-off the competition, said it was organised to immortalise his father and to support the Oyo State government in promoting sports by engaging the youths and sensitising them against social vices.
The unity cup, according to the organisers, will discover new talents, empower them and promote unity among the communities in the Oke-Ogun region of Oyo State.
While commending the PPP initiative of Oyo State that gave birth to this project and lothers in road construction, health-care services, education, tourism, among others, it is pertinent to point out that the football talent hunt will showcase over 300 young players, sporting officials and other people whose means of livelihood are attached to sports.
Iseyin and the other nine local government areas where most of the matches will be played will witness a rise in economic activities as visitors and lovers of sports are sure to bombard those places.
Whoever said partnership doesn’t work should try sweeping with a strand of broom.
- Alhazan Abiodun
Ministry of Information, Culture and Tourism, Ibadan.
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