Ojiji Unity Cup: Ebonyi Monarch Lauds Gov. Nwifuru for Promoting Grassroots Football

The traditional ruler of Ipfuigwe Autonomous Community, His Royal Highness, Eze Clement Eze, has commended the Governor of Ebonyi State, Rt. Hon. Francis Ogbonna Nwifuru, for making sporting activities attractive and participatory for community youths.

Eze Eze gave the commendation at Ndiech Village Primary School field, Ndiechi Autonomous Community, where the Ipfuigwe football team defeated Igbeagu Autonomous Community 1–0 in the ongoing Ojiji Izhi Unity Cup competition where he appealed to other communities and leader to start promoting talents among the youths especially in the area of sports .

The monarch described the grassroots football tournament as a unifying platform that promotes peace, brotherhood, and mutual coexistence among communities in the state. He emphasized that beyond competition, the Unity Cup encourages youth participation in positive ventures, steering them away from crime, and called on business and political leaders to key into similar initiatives that promote youth development.

Also speaking, the youth president of Igbeagu Autonomous Community, Comrade Augustine Agara, and the national youth president of Ipfuigwe, Comrade Mgbada Philip-Jumbo, expressed gratitude to Governor Nwifuru for creating new autonomous communities, which they said has given their people a stronger sense of belonging.

According to them, the Unity Cup has not only brought communities together but also reinforced the bond of oneness in the old Igbeagu Autonomous Community. “That singular initiative by His Excellency is the greatest project in the old Igbeagu Autonomous Community. The football competition has shown us that we are still one and will continue to grow as one people,” they noted. The game which is the first intra-community football competition in Izhi clan was sponsored by Engr. Osinachi Nwankwegu, (Osicon),a business man and indigene of Ndialobo village of Ndiechi Igbeagu Autonomous Community of Izzi Local Government Area of the state.