Kano State Government has expressed its desire to partner with the Lagos State Government to explore opportunities in the sports sector.
The Special Adviser to Kano State governor on Media, Mallam Sanusi Bature Dawakin Tofa, made this disclosure after the maiden Bamofin Ladipo Johnson Under-16 football tournament.
Dawakin-Tofa, who stood in for Governor Kabir Abba Yusuf, who was the chief guest of honour at the final match, stated that his principal was unavoidably absent and praised the organisers for putting in place the tournament, which is aimed at grassroots sport development.
In a statement by the organisers in Lagos under the auspices of the Johnson Initiative for Positive Impact in conjunction with the Lagos State Grassroots Soccer Association, it was made clear that the tournament is meant to develop soccer talents and create opportunities for their growth.
Addressing newsmen at the end of the pulsating encounter between Nice Base FC, Lagos Island and Mainlander FC, Ebute Meta, Dawakin-Tofa stated that “Lagos State and Kano State share similarities with Lagos being the economic hub in the North and Lagos being the hub in the South and I can say that for several years we have continued to partner in several sectors.
“This time, we are looking at how we can take this relationship a notch further by exploring how we collaborate to explore opportunities in sports. This is in furtherance of the philosophy of human capital development, which the current Kano State government is exploring with a view to exploring the talents in both states,” he said.
Commenting on the reason why he facilitated the soccer competition, Chief Johnson stated that it (the competition) was put in place to highlight and showcase the talents of youths across the state.
“This competition is my personal token to help contribute my quota to sports development in the country, and with what the competition turned out to be, I can say that it has met my expectations for putting it in place,” he said.
The pulsating final match, which saw Nice Base FC of Lagos Island square up with Mainlander FC Ebute Meta, ended 3:2 in favour of Nice Base FC.
