Ambassador Ibrahim Waiya, Executive Director of Citizens for Development and Education (CDE), Convener of the Kano Peace Committee (KPC), and Convener of the Nigeria for Peace Project (N4P), inaugurated the Kano Peace Committee Football Academy on September 23, 2024, in celebration of the 2024 International Peace Day.
Speaking at the inauguration, Ambassador Waiya highlighted the need to engage youth in peacebuilding amid growing challenges to peace and security.
“It is indeed critical at this moment of our growing challenges and threats to peace and security to grossly engage the youths at every layer, to cultivate the culture of peacebuilding and social cohesion,” he said. “We aim to implant the love for humanity, nationalism, and patriotism, regardless of ethnic, regional, and religious inclination.”
Waiya stressed the importance of collective action in preserving peace, saying, “It is time to build a collective action to preserve and support all efforts to ensure that a human society full of peace, security, and prosperity is built.”
He explained that the Kano Peace Committee Football Academy would serve as a platform for young talents, offering opportunities to pursue their dreams of becoming great players at local, national, and international levels.
6″The Academy shall be supported to serve as a breeding platform for young talented people and create an opportunity for them to pursue their dreams of becoming great players at both local, national, and international levels,” Waiya stated.
“The Kano Peace Committee shall equally expose the players through training on the importance of peace, to transform them into peace advocates and peacebuilding agents in their constituencies, communities, state, and around the country at large,” Waiya added.
During the event, Ambassador Waiya was unanimously endorsed as the Chairman of the Academy, while Dr. Habib Abubakar Awais was nominated as the Secretary General.
The players expressed appreciation to the Kano Peace Committee for its continuous efforts in promoting peace and security in Kano State, the North, and Nigeria at large.
