Announcement

It is the greatest privilege and pride of my life to announce that I have been selected as one of the 27 candidates worldwide to undertake the 23 rd edition of the FIFA Master program.
In doing so, I become one of five Nigerians to have ever represented my motherland in the
program’s history. As a kid from Warri, this gives me an even greater sense of pride.
Officially, I have only been in the industry for nine months, but at heart, I have been in it my
whole life. I have always been involved in sports at all levels of my education and this has been
projected into my professional career as a legal practitioner.

Self-belief in my ability to excel in the sports industry has never been in doubt, however applying for this program, knowing I had to pass three stages and an interview was daunting. Truthfully, I applied this year to ‘fail’, so it counts towards my future applications as I felt I had no ‘real experience’ in the industry. To my greatest surprise, I kept on passing each stage and not until I received the email which invited me for the interview, did I say to myself ‘okay, I can actually do this you know?’ LOOK AT US NOW.

My sincere gratitude goes to Almighty God. I read and heard stories about how difficult the
process is to get on the program, so to achieve this on my first attempt? I can only say it was
God’s will. A big thank you to my Mum and Dad who have supported and pushed me towards my dreams. Special thank you my siblings, Osan and, Misan, who have continually supported, encouraged and influenced my choices on this journey. I say thank you to my aunties and uncles who have also supported and encouraged me. Thank you, Obokhai, for continually believing in my potential to change the face of football in Africa, thank you, brother. Thank you also to my classmates at all levels, colleagues, mentors, some of my previous bosses and my well-wishers who have in one way or the other supported this little dream of mine.

The late great Nipsey Hussle said “believe in yourself and your process. Validation from others, is just seeking their opinions and they haven’t lived your story”, I thank CIES and the scientific committee for believing in me and my process so much so that they awarded me a partial scholarship.

I am looking forward to meeting up with my 26 other classmates and going on this journey that will enrich each of us in terms of knowledge, culture and as individuals. In signing off, I say thank you once again, and I am looking forward to making my family, city and nation proud. The real work has just begun.