Messiah FC of Ifako Ijaye on Sunday defeated Future Pro FC 1-0 in the final of the second edition of the Ifako-Ijaye Novelty match sponsored by one of the sons of the community, Eyitayo Ogunmola with support from one of his friends, Tobi Richard.
The final match which attracted several sons and daughters of Ifako Ijaye was one of Ogunmola, popularly called EyiEko’s ways of giving back to the community where he was born and bred.
The winner of the match went home with the prize money of N800,000 with the second-place team winning N500,000 for their efforts. The third position went to Akanbite FC with prize money of N200,000.
Speaking with our correspondent, EyiEko said the competition is a way to make impact in the life of the youths in the community.
“One of the ways we try to make impact is engaging young people,” he said.
“When you have vibrant youths around, you must find a proper way to engage them, every time I look at the population, the only thing that comes to my mind was how to empower them, empowerment for me is more of ways to attract international community, also engaging the government to bring about better policy that can change the lives of the people.
“There are about 15 scouts invited by me personally which people don’t know, I want them to come around and see what we are doing. I want them to come and source and identify talents here at Ifako Ijaye.”
On why he partnered with Tobi Richard, he said since they grew up together in the community, they have been supporting each other to lift the youths.
