July 4, 2021

This is the context in which the Dallaji initiative which brought the high and mighty in world entertainment especially football to Bauchi is not only an act of courage but a show of patriotism and commitment to humanity.

Anybody fretting over insecurity in the north east and its negative impact on tourism and business should fret no more. Bauchi is proof that the zone is safe for investments, entertainment, commerce and all.

The recently-concluded talent hunt show which attracted legends of football from around the world more than ossified the argument that insecurity in the zone is not as magnified as projected on social media. The event also provided a premise to appreciate the military for pushing back insurgency from major cities to remote border communities and mitigating its impact. It was the second edition of the African Children Talent Discovery Foundation (ACTDF), a talent hunt and mentoring programme promoted by Noah Dallaji, an engineer, philanthropist and scion of Bauchi State.

Africa has been a nursery of talents, a major supplier of athletes, footballers and other actors in the broader entertainment ecosystem who end up naturalizing as citizens of western nations. Everybody is born with a talent. What makes the difference is discovery, nurturing and guided husbanding of such talents. This is the missing link for young African talents. Gifted and endowed with ingenious talents, the African child is left to wander in hopeless swagger. And while the African child growing up in Africa pounds the street of hopelessness and despair, his counterpart in the western world is already mainstreamed into the classroom, theatre, academy or any such place where his talent is honed and transformed into scalable, marketable brand.

This is the context in which the Dallaji initiative which brought the high and mighty in world entertainment especially football to Bauchi is not only an act of courage but a show of patriotism and commitment to humanity. Imagine a stellar selection of teenagers being groomed and tutored by legends from across the world including our own mercurial Jay Jay Okocha, Daniel Amokachi (The Bull), gutsy Celestine Babayaro, Joseph Yobo, Victor Ikpeba, Austin  Eguavoen, Garba Lawal, supremely talented Kanu Nwankwo, among other cast of soccer prodigies like Congolese Lomana Lualua and Ghana’s Stephen Appiah. That was what happened at the Abubakar Tafawa Balewa stadium in Bauchi between June 26 and 27^th. It was a time when the man meets the moment; when raw talent encased in teenagers was stirred up in ceaseless animation; indeed an unforgettable moment for young Nigerians who through the philanthropic prompting of a privileged and public-spirited Dallaji were being groomed today to unlock their talents and unleash same on the global stage tomorrow.

For a two-day event, the participants emptied into Bauchi and were there for upwards of five days without any untoward incident. If anything, it deflated the ballooning but unfounded hype that socio-economic activities have shut down in the north east. It put a lie to the baseless narrative that Nigeria is doomed; that the future of the youths has been mortgaged on the altar of bad governance. The talent hunt show speaks of a glorious future for today’s budding talents. It raises a banner of hope for a glorious tomorrow. This year’s event tagged Engr. Noah Dallaji Legacy Project, covered football, music, general entertainment and the arts. But the chief attraction and show-stopper was football and there was a rich supply of soccer talents on their way to becoming impact players on the global stage.

But for the covid-19 pandemic and its concomitant restrictions and lockdowns, the scope would have been wider and resource persons from Europe, the theatre of football, would have made it down to Bauchi, according to the organisers.

The show turned out a carnival of sort; a rendezvous of skills set and talents; a defining moment for an African renaissance in entertainment development. Dallaji’s vision and mission is a wake-up call to other privileged Nigerians. It sends the message that attaining a privileged status is not a ticket to oppress the under-privileged but a stimulant to pull them from backwater class to world class. In his words, the programme was in furtherance of ACTDF’s vision and mission to discover and develop Nigerian talents to solve some of the challenges of insecurity, social ills and consequently help in the development of the country.

This is the stuff and character of legends, genuine compatriots and enablers of nation-building. It’s much the same way that soccer prodigies like Cristiano Ronaldo (currently the richest footballer valued at $450 million), David Beckham, Lionel Messi, Kaka, Ronaldinho et al were discovered and groomed into global brands. It’s the same way that velvety voice crooners like Celine Dion, Michael Jackson, Dolly Patton among others were discovered and guided to global stardom.

Dallaji has set himself on the path of global greatness. He has shown that you don’t have to be in government to make impact and contribute to nation-building. He deserves a national medal for such show of selflessness, empathy and sacrifice in a world in which capitalism and greed have blinded many to the reality and wisdom of living for others.

Sports and entertainment have become major tools for poverty alleviation. The top 20 richest footballers today have a cumulative net worth of $3.09 billion. It’s a list that has two Africans (Samuel Eto and Didier Drogba, both worth $95m and $90m respectively). Ronaldo (CR7) sits atop that log. But this was the same Ronaldo that the mother, Dolores, once admitted she wanted to abort the pregnancy because of fear of being unable to cater for him with a husband struggling with alcoholism; the same Ronaldo who could not afford any decent meal while under tutelage in Portugal and was always going to McDonalds with his friends in the hope of getting free meals from leftovers. But his talent found him out and thrust him into our collective subconscious. Poverty has been alleviated around him and among his friends, all because somebody discovered him early.

This is what Dallaji is achieving with his talent hunt foundation: birthing hope in the hopeless and setting them on the path to becoming future Ronaldos and Messis. Bauchi is the tourism gateway to the north east. This writer was at Yankari Games Reserve in 2019; an idyllic resort where humans and animals co-habit in mutual harmony. But beyond tourism, taking the event to Bauchi showed that the north east is safe for both business and living.

Dallaji is not a stranger to development and philanthropy. He has sponsored many Nigerians on scholarships overseas, he has emotionally connected with communities by providing them with basic amenities including boreholes and clinics; but bringing the world to Bauchi for days says so much about safety of businesses and investment in the state and by extrapolation, in the north east.

The talent-hunt show should be sustained. The challenge is to continue to nurture these talents. Tomorrow they will justify the efforts and pains of today. If in doubt, consider the annual remittances of Brazilian footballers alone to Brazil, it’s humungous. Think of the $101 billion revenue raked in from entertainment in 2019 and think of the overall contribution of the 250 million people playing football at all levels in the world, then you’ll realise how much Nigeria has lost over the years because we failed to catch them young. This makes the Dallaji initiative inevitable.

Author: Ken Ugbechie; Culled from Sunday Sun