NIGERIA. Edo State: With tens of thousands of people exposed to the game and a boys and girls team competing in the state’s secondary school tournament, cricket has played a significant role in addressing the country’s integration and inclusion challenges.
Uyi Akpata, the Nigeria Cricket Federation (NCF) president, said this after receiving the International Cricket Council’s Cricket4Good Social Impact Initiative of the Year award (ICC).
The ICC named NCF the winner of this year’s Cricket4Good Social Impact Initiative. It is a project aimed at influencing and engaging 2,000 children in the Benin Internally Displaced Camp (IDP) and the other two million children across the federation who are victims of insurgency and terrorism perpetrated by members of the dreaded Boko Haram.
According to Akpata, the NCF engages and develops displaced children by teaching them skills they may apply as refugees.
The crew is also thrilled and excited to be known abroad, according to Akpata.
“On behalf of the almost 2,000 students in the Benin IDP Camp and two million children in various camps, we accept this special recognition and promise to put more effort into achieving more in the near future,” Akpata said.
The projects initiated and run by Promoting Ethics Through Sports (PETS) Foundation to the IDP camps in Benin, the Edo state capital, won NCF global recognition and promotion.
The initiative has provided the campers with more than just cricket skills; it has also provided them with the life skills they need to recover from the catastrophic effects of being uprooted from their ancestral homes.
However, Akpata expressed his genuine thanks and joy to the team’s coaches, players, and staff for doing everything they could to ensure the team’s triumph.
He also expressed gratitude to the Edo State Cricket Association and the team in charge of the camp’s activities for their trust and support.
“The camp is being urged to produce both male and female teams that will compete in forthcoming Edo State Cricket Leagues,” Akpata noted.
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