The children and youths of IDPs Uhogua, Benin City Camp, have won the maiden edition of the Mary Waya award.
This award, named after Mary Waya, the current co-coach of the Malawian national netball team, is to honour her for defying the outbreak of COVID-19 and taking the risk to come to Nigeria in 2020 to train and certify 24 Nigerians as qualified Netball Africa coaches.
A statement issued by the Trustees of CSED Initiative, stated that the aim of the Mary Waya award is to recognise the efforts put in by organisations and group of persons who use the power of sports to overcome tough life circumstances that are beyond their control.
As of now, Mary Waya’s act of selflessness has led to CSED Initiative that has the netball pacesetters in Nigeria, training and equipping more than 370 P.E Teachers and community youths for free.
This was achieved through their "Project 2027" programme that aims at bringing netball to the attention of one million Nigerian school girls.
"The work of Mary Waya has also led to CSED Initiative piloting the “Sporting Coders” project, a programme that will enable some selected Nigerian secondary school girls to combine playing the sport they enjoy, with learning how to code or improving their computing skills.
"Though netball is specifically a sport that is designed for girls and women, the current goal of World Netball is to make the sport an inclusive game that should be enjoyed by everyone irrespective of their gender.
"CSED Initiative with the support of kits donated by Lord’s Taverners is currently trialling boys in selected school in Nigeria playing the game of netball", added the statement.
It noted that the success of the netball team of Tare Pet School in Bayelsa State has triggered the interest of their male counterpart who have been training just before the end of last school year.
Mary Waya commended the management of IDPs Uhogua for using netball to support the recovery of some of the residents of the camp, made up mostly of Nigerians of northern extraction, who are victims of the Boko Haram insurgence in the North-East States of Nigeria.
" The residents of the Uhogua IDPs camp also have a football and cricket team that take part in completions with other secondary schools in Benin City".
The Mary Waya award gives the winner N150, 000 cash payment, which is used to support sports and educational activities of the winning school/community.
In terms of academic attainment, the residents of the camp are also punching above their weight, as over 200 of them are currently studying in different universities in Nigeria.
Last year, Amo Ishaku, a former resident of the camp who obtained a first-class bachelor's of Engineering degree from the Edo State University Iyamho, was awarded a PhD scholarship by University of Illinois, Chicago (USA). Amos Ishaku continues to strive for excellence in the United States.
