The British Council in partnership with the English Premier League, have trained over 100 Nigerian coaches and footballers through the Premier Skills initiative which is focused on developing football and coaching in the country.
The premier Skills kicked off 13 years ago in Lagos and Kano with a focus to impact on young children, especially the girl child and contributing to providing quality footballing training and coaches.
The Director of Programmes, British Council, Nigeria Chikodi Onyemerela at the close-out event held at Meadow Hall School, Lekki, Lagos State informed that the Premier Skills is a project under the British Council’s non-formal education section. He further stated this project had trained over 948 coaches and referees and over 20,000 footballers which include women, young girls, and children.
According to him, “The Premier Skills project is an international partnership between the British Council and Premier League, which uses football to develop brighter future for young people and raise their self-esteem. The project provides for coaches, referees, and players to become better integrated into society. “During the last 13 years of the project delivery in Nigeria, we successfully trained 948 coaches and referees. These coaches and referees are now agents of change in their respective communities and are promoting inclusivity and community cohesion through the methodology of Premier Skills”.
The Regional Head, of Cultural Engagement Marketing, Sub-Saharan Africa of the British Council, Edemekong Uyoh, said the objective of the initiative was to introduce life skills to the coach educators and use the global power of football as a tool for change, to assist young children and girls and create unique to address several societal issues. Furthermore, she said there is a need for more government and corporate bodies to onboard the project in future to take it to different states of Nigeria beyond Lagos and Kano.
The British Council’s Project Officer, Harirah Gurama, informed that the Premier Skills project has positively impacted about 80% of women in Nigeria. “Premier Skills programme has assisted to also educate children on child rights, teach youths to guard against bad influences in the society, and given hope of a better future to marginalized people in Nigeria,” she said.
“We are able to work with community parties at the grassroots to train them to be able to improve the lives of the marginalized persons in society.
“We all know that it is at the grassroots level that we have bullying, drug abuse, and other societal ills. In 13 years, we have trained these coaches, not only to teach the young people football but to impact the lives of these young people with other life skills,” she said.
One of the beneficiaries of the Premier Skills programme, former Super Falcons player, Chinasa Ukandu, said the Special Skills programme has helped to improve her career in coaching, and learning from well-experienced trainers.
“Being part of the Premier Skills project was indeed a great opportunity for me, it was an experience that was filled with a lot of achievement, challenges, and unforgettable memories. Through the Premier Skills project I was given the opportunity to improve, to show that football is more than just a game. There is a lot that football has to offer. I have benefitted a lot, the skills that I have acquired, the experiences, the exposure, I have been able to go out there in my community to work with children and using football to solve a lot of vices going on in our community,” she said.
Expressing her gratitude to the British Council, Coach Chinasa Ukandu said that participating in the Premier Skills programme was a great opportunity and experience filled with a lot of personal achievements for her.
Emmanuel Okere a Coach Educator and a beneficiary of the Premier Skills project also shared his experience on the programme. “As a coach the Premier Skills project has really helped to impact me in the way I think, the way I do things, the way I reason, the way I see people and the way I see the society.”
The British Council believe in unity in ethnicity and, they believe in diversity. So being part of the project the premier skills has helped me to go back to my community to sort out those challenges because it is more about community development and as a Coach Educator you are expected to go back to your community and explore what you have learned, the knowledge you have gained to your community”.
Also in attendance at the event were the Chairman, Lagos FA, Fouad Alade, and representatives of the Lagos State and Kano State ministries of education, amongst others.
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