10th Lubcon Principals Cup begins as sponsors Lubcon pledge support

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Lubcon Limited, the sponsors of the annual All-Kwara Secondary School football tournament, Lubcon Principals Cup has reiterated its resolve to continue to re-enforce the Lubcon brand affinity with sports, especially at the grassroots.

While flagging of the 10th edition of the competition at the Conference Room of the Ministry of Education yesterday, the Group Managing Director of the lube blending company, Kalu Onwunta said that the excellent organization of the competition in the last 10 years has enabled the discovery of talented footballers, with employment opportunities created for many.

He pointed out that the key objective of the initiative, which is assisting to discover and develop young talents in football in the state has been achieved, promising that the company is committed to helping school children to develop their talents early in life.

‘This is one of the corporate social responsibilities which Lubcon Limited has assigned to itself, and we appreciate the state government for encouraging the enabling atmosphere for us to complement the state’ government’s efforts in youth and sports development’, he said.

He also commended the Ministry of Education, Ministry of Sports, Kwara State Sports Council, and the Nigeria Schools Sports Federation (NSSF) for their support.

‘Through the continuous hosting of the tournament, we are sure that it will serve as a shield against youth restiveness, growing concerns created through the use of drugs and drug abuse and other social vices that the youths, especially in schools are associated with’, he averred.

He charged the organizers to consider the female version of the competition, as he also challenged other corporate bodies to emulate Lubcon Limited in providing financial and material support to the development of sports in the state.

Onwunta said that the 10th edition will be celebrated in grand style, with the introduction of prizes for the Most Disciplined Team, the Highest Goal Scorer, the Most Valuable Player, award for Best Goalkeeper, the Fair Play award.

The Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Education and Human Capital Development, Alhaji Jibril Baba Haruna, while commending Lubcon Limited for sustaining the initiative observed that sporting activities is nose-diving in schools, challenging school Principals to arrest the situation by hunting for talents.

‘Development of a child should be holistic, and that’s why you need to encourage sporting activities in your schools, he said.

The defending champions, Islamiyya College of Patigi were presented with a cheque of N1m by the sponsor, for development activities in the school.

The Principal of Islamiyya College, Hajia Fatima N. Hassan, while receiving the cheque commended Lubcon Limited for their commitment and sacrifice.

Over 362 Secondary Schools, both public and private are expected to participate in this year’s edition from the existing eight zones which include Ilorin A and B, Ilorin West, Offa, Omu-Aran, Share, Edu and Kaiama, as the company presented branded balls and logistics for the preliminaries. NSSF warned the schools against the use of mercenaries.

The finals, among the eight zonal champions hold between October 25 to 29 in Ilorin.