Full Text of Address on the launch of A F D

It gives me great pleasure to welcome you all to the public presentation of the Nigerian edition of Aspire Africa Football Dreams. The project is an ambitious programme launched by the Aspire Academy for Sports Excellence aimed at establishing a youth legacy in African football. It will also provide talented African youth footballers from seven nations (Senegal, South Africa, Cameroon Nigeria, Ghana, Kenya and Algeria) with the opportunity to study and train at the Aspire Academy which is one of the worlds’s most advanced sports centres.

Aspire Africa Football Dreams was unveiled at a ceremony in Doha, Qatar on 18th April 2007 and was attended by many world football luminaries led by the legendary Edson Arantes De Nacimento (Pele). It is the largest football talent hunt project in history, in which over six thousand (6000) staff will test more than five hundred thousand (500,000) boys born in 1994 in the seven countries mentioned above, in over seven hundred (700) locations in different phases, beginning May 2007.

In the first phase, the best fifty (50) players and 100 coaches from each country identified during the selection process will later converge in their respective sporting capitals to participate in a training camp to be conducted by a world renowned coach, Francisco Fihlo of the very successful French Football Academy in Clairefontaine and Manchester United. From this camp the top 3 players and their coaches will be selected to proceed to the Aspire Academy in Doha, Qatar for training for four weeks. The entire activities of the participants at the Aspire Academy in Doha will be televised live across the globe in form of a reality TV show.

Registration for the Aspire Africa Football Dreams Project is FREE. The Nigerian edition commenced in April 2007 in one hundred (100) centres across the 36 States of the Federation and the FCT as listed in the Flyers of Field & Registration Centres provided in your information folders. Registration will close on Wednesday 25th July 2007. The selection process for Nigerian players will commence on 17th August through September 2007 in all the different fields. Activities on each field will be administered by a Coordinator and some staff, supervised by football experts from across the globe under the auspices of the Aspire Academy, as was the case with the Senegalese edition which has been concluded and that of South Africa which is currently going on.

All the Nigerian field coordinators are capable hands, comprising of former Nigerian internationals, coaches and notable administrators in the sphere of football. These include; Bright Omokaro otherwise known in his playing days as 10-10, elastic Thompson Oliha, Zachary John, Godwin Obiyan, Jombo Awala, Monday Eguavoen, Prince Afejukwu, Friday Christopher, Emmanuel Babayaro, Basil Obeta, Kelvin Nwanna, Joe Emegai, Ndanusa Abubakar, Ada Akpotor and Awalu Adamu to mention a few. This also underscores our determination in ensuring that qualified and experienced hands handle the administration of the project.

The Aspire Africa Football Dreams Project is sponsored by sports wear manufacturing giants NIKE in partnership with Bonus Sports Marketing (BSM), an international sports events management company. The project is endorsed and supported by the United Nations Office of Sports for Development and Peace and has received the blessings of the Football Federations of the participating countries, Nigeria inclusive.

However, there is no gainsaying the fact that this project offers wide opportunities for talented young African boys to reach the height of international and professional football in future. The following, inter alia, are few immediate benefits that we expect to deliver to Nigerian football through this project:

A database of approximately 88,000 Nigerian male footballers born in 1994.

100 coordinators around Nigeria, who after their involvement in this project, will provide an enhanced network and complement youth football organization in Nigeria.

The top 176 players who are 12 years old from 100 communities across Nigeria (17,600 players) will have the opportunity to be scouted by top coaches from the Aspire Academy.

3 players and 3 coaches from Nigeria have the opportunity of receiving training at the Aspire Academy each year with all expenses paid.

World attention will be focused by top clubs around the globe on the abilities of Nigerian youth footballers.

Ladies and gentlemen, the media has a vital role to play to facilitate the smooth administration of the event. To this end, I call on you to kindly give this project wide and effective publicity so that Nigerian youths will participate en mass and reap the attendant benefits. For the records, only countries that meet their target of participants will be included in the project in subsequent editions.

In conclusion, I have no doubt that with your support we can maintain our leadership role by outclassing our African counterparts in this project. The foundation to achieve this is by providing the best players who will excel and do our country proud among their peers anywhere in the world. However, we can only showcase our best talents if a large section of our youths register for the project. The media, no doubt, is the best organ to orchestrate the benefits of this event to our youths through which this objective can be achieved.

We would like to thank you in advance for your consideration and support as you join us in encouraging our youths to “ASPIRE TODAY, INSPIRE TOMORROW.

Thank you once again and God bless.

Lagos, Nigeria Col Sam Ahmedu (Rtd)

4th July, 2007 GM, Football Dreams Africa (Nigeria)