Reps aspirant, Aliyu Lawal “Cairo,” to empower Zaria youths with football programmes

The immediate past Flying Eagles Team Manager, Alhaji Aliyu Lawal popularly called “Ali Cairo,” has promised to initiate and execute life transforming football programmes for the youths if elected to represent the Zaria Federal Constituency in the House of Representatives. The football administrator who held various positions in the NFF from 2019 to 2025 before […]

The immediate past Flying Eagles Team Manager, Alhaji Aliyu Lawal popularly called “Ali Cairo,” has promised to initiate and execute life transforming football programmes for the youths if elected to represent the Zaria Federal Constituency in the House of Representatives.

The football administrator who held various positions in the NFF from 2019 to 2025 before retiring to go into partisan politics is pursuing his ambition on the platform of the African Democratic Congress (ADC).

Speaking with Daily Trust, Ibraim said having consulted widely with his family and the relevant party stakeholders, he was confident of getting the people’s mandate to serve in the next National Assembly.

He said “ Having excelled in football administration, I felt it was time to try something new. I believe that if you succeed as a football administrator, it will be easy for you to succeed in politics because what we do as football administrators is to manage people.

“In football, I was trained to manage people. It is against this background that I am highly motivated to seek to represent the good people of Zaria in the House of Representatives.”

On what he intends to do in the area of sports if elected, “Ali Cairo” said even before his present political ambition, he was instrumental to the football achievements of more than 100 youths in his constituency.

“In the area of sports, I am investing so much in this important sector, especially in football. From 2009 till this moment, which is almost 16 years, I have helped a lot of kids in Zaria to achieve their dreams in football.

“I have assisted over 100 players to get into NPFL clubs, junior and senior national teams and even foreign clubs.

“I use my personal resources and international connections to make sure that Zaria boys are recognized and given the opportunity to play for Nigeria and foreign clubs.

“They are so many that I can’t mention all of them now. This is what I have been doing to support Zaria youths in football.

“I am still planning to bring a lot of foreign scouts and coaches to Zaria to take a look at our players and select the best among them. So far, I have an agreement with at least five clubs in the NPFL to visit Zaria for scouting tournaments.

“Again, I have discussed with so many Super Eagles players. Most of them played in the national U-20 and are still very close to me. This is the time for them to reciprocate my kind gestures.

“I have spoken to people like Moses Simon to come and speak to the youths on how they can succeed in their football careers,” he said.

Ibrahim reiterated that even if his political aspiration fails to materalise in 2027, he won’t dump his good intention for the youths of Zaria.

“Even if I don’t make it to the National Assembly in 2027, I will still carry out these laudable programmes just as I have been doing since the time I ventured into football administration.

“I want to help the youths of Zaria using football and other sports. If this is done, we would have empowered them economically and reduced the rising insecurity.

“We want to start with football and then extend our support to other sports like basketball. I’ve already approached the Chairman of the National Sports Commission (NSC) to support in this regard,” Ibrahim concluded.