The Nigerian Navy has pledged to continue to partner with relevant stakeholders in order to discover young talents that will represent the nation in future football competitions.
Chief of the Naval staff, Vice Admiral Ibok-Ete Ibas made the pledge while declaring open the Seventeenth edition of The Chief of The Naval Staff Under-14 Boys and Ninth edition of the Naval Officers’ Wives Association’s President Under-17 Girls Tournaments holding at the Liberty Stadium, Ibadan, Oyo State.
Represented by the Chief of Administration, Naval Headquarters, Rear Admiral Saleh Usman, the CNS stated that past editions of the tournaments discovered the likes of current Super Eagles’ striker, Kelechi Iheanacho and Super Falcons’ midfielder Halimat Ayinde who participated in the 2008 and 2009 editions of the tournaments respectively.
The CNS commended the high standards of the tournaments which over the years have witnessed superlative display of talents from young boys and girls which have immensely contributed to the overall development of football in the country.
He further urged the participants of this year’s tournaments to imbibe the spirit of sportsmanship and compete in a healthy environment and to also make friends that will outlast the competition. While promising to continue to partner with the Youth Sports Federation of Nigeria through the tournaments, the CNS added that an event of this nature was a testament of the Nigerian Navy contribution to the development of youth sports in the country.
SULEMAN DAHUN
Commodore for Chief of the Naval Staff
