A non-governmental organisation, Jalo Okwor Foundation in partnership with Twenty Bucks Creative is set to host a football tournament later this year among political parties, in order to promote peaceful coexistence ahead of the 2023 elections.
Briefing newsmen yesterday in Abuja on the sidelines of the signing of a Memorandum Of Understanding (MOU) between the foundations, Founder of Twenty Bucks Creative, Charbel Olusanya Jarrouge, said the initiative themed ‘Sports for Peace’, will be hosted in December 2022.
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He said,“Before I begin with my short speech, I would like to take this opportunity to thank my (Family, Friends, Adamawa Plaza and most importantly our Sponsors of this event), which are (lilies salon and spa, mosville energy, mia engineering, View Point Hospital, Trim & Prissy, Down-Town, Bodyline, ritji café, house of buray and mofft brand).”
“The teams include all political parties in Nigeria, which are (APC, PDP, LP, NNPP, AAC, etc)“For those that are willing to participate in this tournament, we would contact the youth leaders to organise a team that would represent their party for the event
“On our end, we can ensure Nigerians a fair game, by providing a foreign referee that doesn’t support any political party and doesn’t even know (who Yoruba be, who Hausa be and who Igbo be).”
Coordinator, Sports for Peace Initiative, Stephen Ushie Okwor described sports as a vehicle that accommodates every tribe, religion, economic and social status.
“In view of this, we are using sports and football in particular to identify and redirect youths who could otherwise have followed false paths,”
“We are optimistic that this partnership will result in better exposure to the message we are bringing, which is the message of zero violence before, during and after elections.”
He called on all Nigerians, especially the youth groups of the various political parties, political office aspirants and their supporters, security agencies, the media and Civil Society to be deliberate about preaching the message of peaceful elections.
He commended the efforts of the Institute for Peace and Conflict Resolution, led by Prof. bakut tewah bakut as well as all other civil society organisations promoting peace in nigeria.
“We remain resolute in encouraging all youths to shun violence and be peaceful during the forthcoming election period and try to avoid violence as much as possible.” he said
