The First Bank and Samuel Okwaraji Foundation (SOF) national secondary schools football championship—known as the Memoir Cup—has started in multiple locations across the country.
Key takeaways
- The Memoir Cup is underway across several states as the national secondary schools tournament gets its campaign off the ground.
- The competition is being run in three stages, beginning with state championships that are currently taking place.
- State winners will move into zonal playoffs before the remaining teams reach a national final to decide the overall champion.
- The Samuel Okwaraji Foundation was established to commemorate Samuel Sochukwuma Okwaraji, who died after collapsing while serving the Super Eagles on August 12, 1989.
- Senator Osita Izunaso praised First Bank for teaming up with the foundation to broaden the tournament’s reach nationwide.
Three-phase format for the Memoir Cup
Organised together with the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) and the Nigeria School Sports Federation (NSSF), the inaugural edition of the Memoir Cup will be conducted in three phases.
State championships are already in progress and will determine champions from all 36 states plus the Federal Capital Territory.
Those state titleholders will then advance to zonal playoffs, and the teams that emerge from those rounds will go on to a national final, where the overall winner of the tournament will be crowned.
Honouring Samuel Okwaraji and building grassroots talent
Speaking as chairman of the tournament’s steering committee, Senator Osita Izunaso explained that the Samuel Okwaraji Foundation was created to honour the late Nigerian football figure Samuel Sochukwuma Okwaraji.
Izunaso recalled that Okwaraji collapsed and died while on active duty with the Super Eagles on August 12, 1989, during a 1990 FIFA World Cup qualifying match against Angola at the National Stadium in Surulere, Lagos.
He added that the foundation’s goal is to create a pathway for identifying promising young footballers at secondary school level across Nigeria, while supporting grassroots development through well-structured school competitions.
First Bank partnership underlines national reach
Senator Izunaso also commended First Bank for partnering with the foundation, saying the collaboration is aimed at ensuring the tournament is able to reach every state in the federation.
