Taiwo Oluwadare, Ibadan
Ambassador (Prince) Kazeem Eletu-Odibo, on Sunday, at the finals of the 4th Prince Kazeem Eletu Odibo Football Competition at Lagos Campos Square stadium said the competition was borne out of his penchant to disengage youths from their illicit activities in the society.
Eletu-Odibo has become a household name with his philanthropic gestures for sport development and youth empowerment has endeared him to youths. The competition is a platform where talents are discovered and exposed to greater stardom for sustainable future engagement and nation building.
Speaking with Daily Sun on Sunday, Eletu-Odibo said he would continue in the effort of taking the boys out of the street to fulfill their dreams of becoming soccer star in life and to be useful for themselves, their family and the country at large.
He as well promised that the fifth edition of the tournament would be better and more interesting, saying the discovered talented football stars who emerged through the platform of Prince Kazeem Eletu Foundation (PKEF) will begin professional football across Europe.
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Also speaking at the final kick off between T. Boys FC and Life Goes on FC, the chairman of the occasion, Otunba Tomori Williams, thanked the facilitator of the event and God for making the competition a success.
According to him, “I’m highly delighted to be part of this football competition. My engagement in the tournament is more becoming a partnership with Ambassador Eletu as what he does is what I’m doing and the reason I’m here to grace the occasion and also to honour Eletu.
“The initiative is a potential mean to take kids out of the streets and disengage them from their illicit lifestyle and make them to be part of the society by making them contribute to the societal development.
” Vices in our society is growing day by day. The best way to abate this is to put little resources in projects like this to take them off the street and make them productive in life”, he stated.
Meanwhile, at the final match, the ‘Life Goes on FC’ beats T. Boys FC with 2-0. Also, dignitaries like Hon. Bolaji Pitan, Mr. Frank Emeka, Alhaji Samsondeen Ogunkoya, Alhaji Lateef Oluwanishola and five other received awards for their contributions to sport development.