GRASSROOTS football in Oyo State, Nigeria is getting a big lift, thanks to the intervention of Prince Kayode Oyetunde Bayewuwon Foundation.
In March this year, 29th to 31st to be precise, grassroots football teams from five local government areas in Ogbomoso axis of the state slugged it out for the maiden Bayewuwon Cup competition. Ogbomoso North, Ogbomoso South, Ogo-Oluwa,Oriire and Surulere local government areas were the combatants. To the surprise of many, it was the less fancied Ogo-Oluwa and Oriire LGs that made it to the final with Oriire LG carting away the trophy by three goals to nil in a keenly contested match.
Now the Bayewuwon train is set to move to Oke-Ogun axis of the state, with the commercial town of Saki as the center of action.
Already, 10 local government areas have registered for the second leg of the Bayewuwon Cup competition scheduled for 22nd to 27th July, 2004 at the Saki Township Stadium. These are Atisbo, Irepo, Iseyin, Itesiwaju, Iwajowa, Kajola, Olorunsogo, Orelope, Saki East and Saki West. Match fixtures prepared by the Oke-Ogun Local Football Council show that there will be a round-robin preliminary amongst the 10 teams leading straight to semi-finals and then, the final. All four semi-finalists will receive prizes while the overall winner will cart home a trophy.All the teams will also receive a full set of jerseys plus cash to take care of their team preparation and logistics.
At a meeting of the organizing committee held at Freedom Hotel in Saki in June, Chairman of Oke-Ogun Local Football Council, Mr. Isaac Abayomi Fasola, expressed gratitude to Bayewuwon Foundation for sponsoring the competition. “The youths of Oke-Ogun are very passionate about football,” he said. “This competition is most welcome and we thank the sponsor for bringing it to our locality. We will do our best to host a hitch-free tournament,” he assured.
Chief promoter of the Bayewuwon Foundation, Prince Kayode Oyetunde Bayewuwon, is equally ecstatic about the competition. “I’m very pleased that we are able to help our youths in Oyo State to enjoy their passion which is football,” he said. “Our objective is to engage the youth in productive endeavours that will take their minds away from crime and criminality. Our maiden tournament in Ogbomoso was highly impactful, so we decided to extend the initiative to Oke-Ogun which also has a large youth population in Oyo State. I see it as a privilege to be able to touch the lives of our youth positively through my Bayewuwon Foundation,” he concluded.
Oke-Ogun zone in Oyo State is reknown for producing talented football teams. In 2022, the local team, Saki United won the Oyo State AITEO FA Cup by defeating Ibadan giants Shooting Stars SC and Housing Corporation FC in the semi-final and final respectively at the Adamasigba Stadium. The Bayewuwon Cup competition promises to unearth more talented players from the zone.
