BY AKINWALE ABOLUWADE, IBADAN
The Oduduwa Valley Youth and Sports organization has begun a talent hunt for youths in combat sporting activities in a bid to open new frontiers for the younger generation to showcase their skills by putting their energies to productive use.
The President and Founder, Oduduwa Fighting Championship, Commissioner Preye Dolapo Preboye, gave the indication recently at the precinct of a press conference on Combat Sports Fighters Call held at the Kakanfo Inn and Conference Centre, Mobil Ring Road, Ibadan, Oyo State.
The project, he said, was being executed with the support of Kankafo Inn and Conference Centre chaired by Damola Are; and Club XS, run by Deji Aboderin.
Describing the initiative as an opportunity to divert the attention of the younger crop of Nigerians from anti social behaviours such as drug addiction, hooliganism and other forms of criminality, Preboye said this would also be a source of income generation for the unemployed youth.
According to him, the fighters call, targeted at the six South-West states of Oyo, Lagos, Ogun, Ekiti, Ondo and Osun, would kick off in Oyo State.
The categories being involved are kickboxing, boxing, wrestling, judo, taekwondo and karate.
Preboye said, “We are seeking amateurs and professional MMA fighters and boxers, aged five to 18, and age 18 plus. We began a talent hunt tagged, a ‘Fighter Call.’ We visited places in Ibadan such as Beere, Oje, Yemetu, Gate, Old Ife Road, Sawmill, Molete, to name a few. The idea is to encourage the public to get involved in the sports that we call the Mixed Martial Arts; to shed more light on what it is about and the opportunity for them to join our fighting league for free and also to earn money for living expenses.”
“Six genres of combat sports would be inclusive under one framework which is called Mixed Martial Arts.
“MMA has its own rules in which we would now have our own referees trained to execute at a properly sanctioned fight. The job of the referee is to keep the fighters safe from the fighters.
“It is a unique aspect because the combat sports have different rules. They would have to drop their rules and abide by the Oduduwa Fighting Championship rules of engagement which is under the rules of the MMA.
“We are going to stage this all over the South-Western states; six states in particular, beginning with the Pacesetter State (Oyo), then Lagos, Ogun, Ekiti, Ondo and Osun states.
“We are looking forward to visiting all those states and encouraging all the people who are in those states who have the interest of fighting to let them know that this is going on. We are also going to attract them to come to the Kakanfo Inn and Conference Centre to participate.”
On their collaboration with the state governments and their agencies, he said, “We are a private institution. We have no political influence or desires. It is far away from political talk. Everything that we do, we make sure that Oyo State Sports Council is aware of and the Commissioner of Youth and Sports. We had discussions with them, especially the General Manager of the Oyo State Sports Council. We have an understanding.
“There is a space for stakeholders to come in and perform. At the moment, there is no regulator of the sports in the country. That does not stop us from continuing with our objectives. We have our lawyers in place, we have our medical staff in place, we have our officials in place and we have the experience in place to make sure that we provide safety for these fighters.
“We have our funding in place. The organisation is well funded by families who have interest in being philanthropists. We have sold the idea to investors by way of raising the youths to keep them off the streets from criminal activities. Those ideas are very sought after by people who want to find us. We are not asking for any funding right now. We are capable of funding ourselves. For sponsors who are interested in our activities, we have our treasurer to handle that aspect.”
