Director General of the Prosperity Cup, Mr. Ono Akpe, has declared that the Bayelsa State Governor’s Football Tournament is achieving set results.
Akpe made the declaration while speaking to journalists, shortly after the Yenagoa Local Government final encounter between Bayelsa United Feeders and Eternal Grace Ministries FC.
He said he is excited that within the space of seven years, the tournament has grown so big and that some players scouted from the competition are now plying their trade within and outside the country.
The director general pointed out that that was the whole essence of the Prosperity Cup, which is unarguably the biggest grassroots football tournament in the country.
“I am excited that a product of the 2023 edition of the Prosperity Cup, Precious Benjamin, who plays for Hoffenheim in Germany, is presently part of the national Under-20 football team that won bronze in the just-concluded AFCON U-20 Championship in far away Morocco.
“We are particularly excited that our players are getting the recognition they deserve. That is the whole essence of the Prosperity Cup.
“Our dream is that the tournament will serve as a springboard for our youths to play for big Nigerian clubsides, just as some will ply their trade abroad.
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“We are fulfilling that dream and hopefully, we will do more at the end of the tournament. I am super excited that our efforts are yielding dividends,” he said.
Akpe added that no fewer than six Prosperity Cup products are currently with Bayelsa United. A sizeable number are scattered across clubsides in Nigeria, and plying their trade abroad.
“The women are not left out as Harmony John, who played for the grassroots club, Golden Sun Sports Club is now a proud member of the Bayelsa Queens squad.”
Speaking of the quality of play in the Yenagoa finals, in which EGM defeated Bayelsa United Feeders by two goals to one, Akpe said “We are very thrilled, it was a very technical game, you could see both teams are young, youthful and very vibrant, and were eager to take the prize.
“We are impressed because we are seeing quality football at every stage of the competition”.
Giving an insight into what spectators should expect in the Prosperity Cup final, Akpe said “it would be explosive and would be as good as any football competition final, even the F.A. Cup final.
“We are having both the male and female finals. There is going to be a lot of excitement and a lot of entertainment. It is going to be a pot pourri of music, culture and football.”
The grand finale of the Prosperity Cup is scheduled to hold on Saturday, May 31, 2025.
