Keeping football dreams alive in IDP camp

Young boys keep their  sporting dreams alive in a camp for displaced persons within the FCT.  “My biggest ambition in life has always been to see myself playing alongside some of the world’s biggest footballers in England or Spain” Musa Sani (17) said immediately after the evening training session ended. The Boko Haram crisis in […]

Young boys keep their  sporting dreams alive in a camp for displaced persons within the FCT.
 “My biggest ambition in life has always been to see myself playing alongside some of the world’s biggest footballers in England or Spain” Musa Sani (17) said immediately after the evening training session ended.
The Boko Haram crisis in Nigeria has thrown up a lot of camps for internally displaced persons across the country.
Kuchingoro Camp in Abuja is one of such for people seeking refuge from the troubled North Eastern part of the country.
Various stories of struggle, hardship and suffering are being squeezed out of the refugees by some of the international media that are always seen around the camp. 
My mission at Kuchingoro was to take an angle which has mostly been ignored by the media, who are only after stories of what these people saw, endured and left behind as far as the Boko Haram crisis is concerned. 
For me, it was about getting stories of sporting dreams being kept alive ,and carrying the hope that all will turn out well after all the trouble  is over. 
Sani and Yohana John (17) are some of the youngsters that have witnessed what tragedy really means ,having lost loved ones to the war, but they are not allowing that get in the way of their dreams. 
Every morning at 7am and 5pm in the evenings, the boys converge at the neighbouring Kuchingoro local education authority primary school pitch for their usual training session. 
They have been doing this since they got balls and kits donations from an unnamed philanthropist, who knows how vital sports could be for kids like John who lost both parents in the Baga massacre that occurred four months ago. 
“I wasn’t at home when it happened.I  left for a boarding school in Maiduguri and two days later the news was everywhere of what had happened (Baga massacre),and a  few days later our school was closed due to fear  of attack,  and i joined a friend’s family to this place,” John said while removing his football boots. 
“Arsenal inspired me to take up football for good, we had a ‘soccer viewing house’ in my town, it’s where we all converge to watch sports of all sorts, but as it is everywhere, the English Premier League is the most popular.” 
Adding that before then he only played the game for fun but watching Arsene Wenger’s team of the 2008 season which eliminated Italian giants AC Milan on their way to reaching the UEFA Champions League semifinal, helped him make up his mind that football is what he wants to do for a career. 
The 16 Children that turned up for the day’s session all emphasized how important this has become for them ,considering they all have dreams of going into football full time.
It has also helped them psychologically after what some of them have gone through, fleeing terror, sleeping inside bushes for days, before finally finding a place of refuge in the Kuchingoro camp.
The most interesting part of this story is that the training sessions are so organized that one would assume there’s a senior figure who acts as a coach.
Sani who is responsible for keeping the balls and kits with him,  uses a whistle to call out other players when it’s time for training.
“I would like to call on the National Sports Commission, agents and club owners to come to our aid in terms of selecting us for organized youth amateur teams, I’m sure when they come to watch us play they will be impressed,” Sani said. 
He also noted that since they started training three months ago, no one has taken notice of their efforts with a view to helping them, which makes them really appreciate this visit. 
“People pass by and  see us playing football and  assume we are just killing  time not knowing that we see this as a step to greater things, by the grace of the Almighty  some of us will be representing Arsenal, Barcelona and Chelsea in some years to come.” 
While other events at the camp like food and other essentials distribution gathers huge crowds, especially from the media who are sometimes there on propaganda missions (to prove that government or other corporate bodies do care about the displaced people’s plight) 
These boys mostly play to an empty crowd. There is no one to guide them technically or   fans to cheer them on, but credit goes to them for still having the strong belief to carry on. 
After putting the balls and kits in a tattered bag, Sani turns  and says  “now it’s time for dinner before we come back again tomorrow.”