By George Aluo
In the next few days, Bayelsa’s Restoration Starlets would jet out of the country to feature in the maiden edition of the Africa Youth Cup in Cape Verde. The tournament runs from April 19 -27.
Special Adviser to Bayelsa State Governor on Public Affairs, Daniel Alabrah, says featuring in the tournament is a demonstration of Governor Dickson’s love for youths of the state and his desire to see them excel. Alabrah in this interview with Sports Editor, George Aluo, says Dickson, popularly called Countryman by his admirers, has laid a good foundation for sports in Bayelsa, even as his administration winds down with elections due in the state in November this year.
The Africa Youth Cup starts next weekend in Cape Verde and we gathered the Restoration Starlets would be featuring. Can you confirm this?
That is correct. The governor has given approval for the team to feature in the Cape Verde tournament. As we speak, the Restoration Starlets are in camp in Yenagoa. Going to Cape Verde would be a good international exposure for the boys, who were selected after the second Governor Seriake Dickson Football Tournament, which is also known as Restoration Cup, for all communities in the state. I am the Media Director of the football tournament and I can tell you it was a huge football event in 2018. Today, we are happy the boys picked from the tournament are going to get international exposure in line with the promise made at that time. We promised to take the talents discovered by our scouts on a playing tour or to a competition outside the shores of the country. Now that promise is being fulfilled. The Restoration Administration of Governor Dickson has, therefore, opened yet another chapter in our football history and in the development of our youthful talents.
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Why did the state choose to feature in the Cape Verde tournament ahead of other youth tournaments in Europe?
The reason is simple. The Africa Youth Cup in Cape Verde is in its maiden edition and we are going there with history in mind. We are looking to become the first winners of the tournament, which has been described as Africa’s response to similar youth soccer championships in other parts of the world.
We are also impressed with the profile of the tournament, having been endorsed by both the Cape Verdean FA and CAF. We are happy the organisers are putting together an international tournament in Africa.
We are equally proud that our Bayelsa brothers and their international sporting outfit, Serahanasports, are packaging the tournament in partnership with Cape Verdean football federation.
Also, we have looked at the fact that youth teams from different parts of the world are featuring in the tournament. The youth team of Benfica of Portugal, AJSM from France, the Tanzanian U-16 national team are all going to be part of the tournament according to the organisers. So, for us, featuring in the tournament would be a good experience. As I said earlier, we are looking at making history out there in Cape Verde.
Let me quickly add that the governor’s decision to approve our participation in the tournament has again shown that he cares about the wellbeing and development of Bayelsa youths and the talents that abound in our state. We are very excited about this because for a long time no football team in the state had participated in any competition outside the shores of Nigeria.
Now that you are going out to feature in a tournament, any plans to also open up the state and attracting international sporting competitions?
No doubt about that. You can see that the government has upgraded the Samson Siasia Stadium. We have about the best playing turf right now in the country and last year we hosted the female FA Cup final. We have a fantastic golf course in Yenagoa and the Yenagoa airport that is now ready makes it easy for international competitions to hold in the state. The Asoama Sports Academy is another project the government embarked upon to make sports and education flourish side by side. On the whole, the restoration administration of Governor Dickson has laid a solid foundation for sports in Bayelsa.
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How would you rate the performance of the state in sports in the last couple of years?
I can conveniently say we have done very well. The records are there for anybody to see. The fact is that with what the government has done, it can only get better. As I said, this administration is laying a solid foundation for sports. In terms of our recent showings, don’t forget that Bayelsa in the last national sports Festival in Abuja finished fifth. The best in the history of the state and the governor rewarded all the athletes handsomely. Our gold medal winning athletes got N1m each, with the entire contingent getting N150 million reward.
Bayelsa Queens are also the reigning Nigerian female club champions. When they won the league in Lagos, Governor Dickson hosted the team and gave them a cash reward of N22 million. The state has done well in wrestling and that Nigeria is ruling the African wrestling world is courtesy of Bayelsa State and the good job another worthy son of the state, Hon. Daniel Igali, is doing. We are proud of him and also with what Ebi Egbe through his company, Monimichelle, is doing in the country in the area of stadium construction. Bayelsa in the coming years would become the state to beat in Nigerian sports.
