Chairman of Abia Warriors Football Club of Umuahia, Chief Emeka Inyama, has said that for
Nigeria to regain its pride of place in world football the country must go back to the
grassroots to discover hidden talents.
Inyama made his feelings known at the club’s secretariat, when he received the
victorious New Generation Football Academy of Umuahia, who presented him with the golden
trophy they won during the FEYSOC U-17 football competition in Enugu, recently.
He recalled that players like Stephen Keshi, Henry Nwosu and Lawrence Ukaegbu, among others,
who hit national limelight, were all discovered in their youths while playing for their
secondary school teams, insisting that youth competitions and inter-secondary school
competitions must be brought back and encouraged at the grassroots.
According to him, New Generation Football Academy is an affiliate of Abia Warriors and has
produced star players like Chisom Chikatara, Michael Olaha and Shedrack Asiegbu, among others,
for the club and commended the proprietor of New Generation Football Academy, Mr. Uchechukwu
Stephen Nwabuko for his steadfastness.
He said he was not surprised at the achievements of the academy, considering its antecedents,
revealing that Abia Warriors currently has a technical partnership arrangement with the
academy, which has been working well for both sides and supported it with some cash.
Earlier while presenting the trophy to the chairman, Nwabuko said his boys played a total
of five matches in Enugu, scoring a total of 15 goals while conceding only one, as they
successfully defended the trophy they also won last year as overall champions among the 36
teams that attended after defeating Liverpool FC of Onitsha 4-0 in the final.
He said seven of his players, including Chisom Chikatara’s younger brother, Ugochukwu, were
among the boys selected by some foreign scouts, who besieged the competition arena in Enugu.
He added that they would soon hit Lagos for the final selection before they travel abroad
