As part of the festivities commemorating the local Christmas festival, Wilfred Ndidi, a midfielder for the Super Eagles and Leicester City, made around 2000 children in the city of Ajegunle, located in the Ajeromi-Ifelodun Local Government Area of Lagos State, smile on Thursday, Boxing Day.
In partnership with well-known businessman Yemi Idowu, local government chairman Fatai Ayoola, and traditional Iwa and Apapa ruler Mohammed Amodu-Tijani, the Boxing Day children’s party was hosted at the Maracana Sports Centre.
Ndidi, who is currently sidelined with a hamstring injury, did the honour of serving guests at the event before handing out food items to the children.
The 28-year-old said his Christmas experience while growing up was one of the motivating factors for organising the event.
“I feel like it’s a festive period and these kids deserve something like this. It’s something they will have to remember and the memory sticks with them,” the midfielder said at the event.
“The happiness on the faces of the children too can’t be explained. When you do something for adults, the emotions stay with them only but when you do something for kids, the adults see it as well, so they also try to do the same. All we are trying to do is to create memories and I’m happy to be doing this because some of us didn’t have this experience while growing up, I grew up in the barracks like most people know. This is not about football now. Schools are on break and this is a time to create memories, especially among kids.”
The host and CEO of Cana Sports Idowu also hailed the Leicester midfielder for the gesture.
“This is part of something we do every year to try and celebrate with the kids, especially because we are here in Ajegunle and they are friends. I am very happy to have the king, the chairman and Wilfred to support us in doing this. It has a bigger impact when we all work together.”
Chairman of Ajeromi-Ifelodun Local Government, Fatai Ayoola, noted that the role of the authority was mainly crowd control.
“What we have done is to first accredit them from the LGA secretariat and we drove the kids into this venue. We also made arrangements for those who would come unannounced at the Maracana Park and they would equally be taken care of as much as those inside so we can have a perfect party.
“It’s a back-to-back celebration for the kids of Ajegunle and we are elated to host Ndidi. This month alone we have had three visitors who have given the kids befitting Christmas gifts. So, what we are doing is to make them happy in grand style.”
