It was jubilation galore on Saturday, November 16, 2024 in Ode-Itsekiri, the ancestral community of Itsekiri people home and abroad otherwise called ‘Big Warri’ as the 2024 edition of the Delta Ethnic Peace and Unity Football Tournament was formally declared open in the ancient town.
The opening ceremony featured popular Ex-football internationals including Sam Sodje, Edema Fuludu and Bright Omokaro, among dignitaries that graced the flag-off ceremony.
Other notable personalities in attendance comprised the chairman of Local Organising Committee, Hon. Kenneth Nwaomucha, representatives of Ode-Itsekiri in the likes of Hon. E.A.E. Otare Aja, Comr. Ejoh Dimas (Secretary-General of Ode Itsekiri), Emma Ogungbemi, Rieco Tsoluwa, Comr. Asakpi Richardson (Chairman, Warri South-West NULGE, and Training Officer, Delta State Football Referees Council). Others are Prince Samson Ochuko (Chief Inspector of Education, Warri South-West LGA), Rev. Oreva Idudhi (Vice Principal, Kokodiagbene Secondary School), with officiating referee Ede Gift and assistant referees Asakpi Toritseju and Ogaga Diare, just to mention a few.
It will be recalled that the Delta Ethnic Peace and Unity Cup Competition is organised and sponsored by the Center for Peace and Environmental Justice (CEPEJ) in collaboration with the Delta State Oil Producing Areas Development Commission (DESOPADEC), among others.
Speaking at the flag-off ceremony which featured a novelty football match between two teams comprising Ijaw and Itsekiri in one team and Ndokwa, Ika, Isoko and Urhobo in another team, the National Coordinator of CEPEJ, Chief Sheriff Mulade revealed that this year’s competition, which is the fifth edition of the tournament, has spanned over 10 years and is aimed at promoting peace and unity among the various ethnic nationalities in Delta State. The CEPEJ boss noted that the November 16 flag-off date for the tournament “was deliberately picked to buttress the importance of peace as the date marks the United Nations International Day of Tolerance celebrated worldwide”.
Chief Mulade therefore called on all peace-loving people of Deltan State to “embrace the tournament as a competition which promotes peace and foster unity, and also see it as an avenue for improved opportunities for more meaningful development and empowerment in the various communities across the State
The Peace Ambassador expressed gratitude to the host community, Ode Itsekiri, “for the warm reception accorded stakeholders at the flag-off ceremony”. He appealed to other stakeholders to key into the peace and unity project for the good of all Deltans.
Earlier in a welcome address, the Executive Chairman of Ode-Itsekiri, Mr. Anthony Odonghanro, thanked the organisers “for availing the community the opportunity to host the flag-off ceremony of the tournament”.
Comrade Sheriff Mulade and some ex-international at the kick-off of the competition
Odonghanro lamented the “under-usage” of the world standard Ode Itsekiri football pitch, built by the former chairman of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF), Amaju Pinniki, and called on sports enthusiasts within and around the community to see the tournament as a wak