A veteran sports writer, editor and broadcaster, Sam O’Femi Fasetire has disclosed his latest idea for Nigeria’s youth football development, which he said will come out with particular focus on talents in rural communities.
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Making his plan known in an exclusive interview with Sports247 on Thursday, Fasetire, who was fondly called ‘Eagle Eye’ during his days at Complete Sports newspaper and ‘The Speed Tongue’ while at Brila FM, said the forthcoming project will be based in his home town, which happens to be Osu in Osun State.
In order to ensure that the project takes off effectively and turns out to be a huge success, Fasetire further disclosed that he is already working towards relocating fully to the rustic town, which is also the headquarters of Atakunmosa West Local Government.
Fasetire added, “I had a vision of taking my youth football efforts to another level by returning to my roots in Osun State. Having done great things with National Grassroots Dream Team and Community Action Through Sport in Lagos, I believe something similar can be done in the countryside.
“That’s why I’ll be relocating to Osu at the end of June; so that I can be fully on ground and available round the clock to make this project work. It’s going to be known as Football For Rural Children, and it will be run like a non-governmental organisation.”
While revealing further that the new project will be floated in partnership with the resources of Atakunmosa West Local Government, Fasetire pointed out that corporate sponsorship and international support will be highly welcome to power the venture beyond local limitations.
He continued, “We’ve started opening links with colleagues, associates and facilitators across various sectors in order to get financial, material, structural, logistics, technical and man power support. We want to project the rural community of Osu up into consciousness of the international world through football.
“We are soliciting for partnerships that will included clubs in Nigeria and Europe, players agents and scouts, companies and industries, as well as individuals in politics, banking, entertainment, oil, social media, sports and all fields that can propel these kids from obscurity into global limelight.”
He concluded by revealing other aspects of his motivation to float the new project in the serene setting of Osu, a town blessed with two inter-state expressways and a historical tradition in busy commercial activities for the sales of akara (fried bean cake).
“Osu has been blessed as a town that produced two former players of the Super Eagles. That’s talking about Ebenezer Ojo, who previously played for Rangers International of Enugu, as well as his namesake, Ebenezer Oluwafemi Ajilore, who was in the under-23 squad that won silver at Beijing 2008 Olympics.
“We also have Dare Ojo and Gabriel Ojimi to flaunt as football products from our home town, while ace musician, Saint Janet also hails from there. So, we’ll leverage their achievements and position them as ambassadors to propel this project to successful results and far reaching impacts,” Fasetire enthused.
