Unity Cup Sponsor Seeks Govt’s Commitment On Youth Dev

The sponsor of the just concluded under 18 clubsides football competition tagged “Rivers State Unity Cup 2010”, Franklin George has appealed to the state government to sponsor and assist programmes that are geared towards youth development.

George, made the appeal in an exclusive interview with Tidesports, in Port Harcourt.

He expressed sadness over the less than adequate attitude being demonstrated by authorities towards youth empowerment and developmental programmes, despite the fact that provisions for such were made in budgets at different levels.

“I am particularly not happy at all, the way and manner they attend to youth activities in the state.  They have deliberately refused to sponsor and assist programmes that will benefit the youths in our state”, he said.

According to the sponsor of the tournament, the major reason for orgnaising the Unity Cup was to change the perception of people that Rivers State is a no-go area in terms of security of lives and property.

“We orgnaised this tournament to tell the world that there is security in Nigeria, especially in the state.

The state is one of the states that anybody can come and do business but many people tend to have wrong perception of the state. It is not what they think my brother”, he added.

George, continued that the competition was also geared towards exposing hidden talents in the state.

He used the opportunity to call on team managers of both Sharks and Dolphins FCs to show  interest in players from the grassroots clubs, because there are a lot of talented players that can effectively fit in both teams.

“It is unfortunate that our coaches do not go to the grassroots to discover players and nurture them”, he stated.      

Tonye Orabere