Ikpeme Bags UNILORIN Ambassadorial Honour, Pledges ₦1m Annual Football Prize

Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) Deputy General Secretary, Dr Emmanuel Ikpeme, MON, has been honoured as a University Ambassador by the University of Ilorin (UNILORIN) and pledged to support the institution’s student football competition with ₦1 million annually.

Ikpeme received the honour on Monday at a ceremony presided over by the university’s Vice-Chancellor, Professor Wahab Olasupo Egbewole, SAN.

The NFF chieftain described the recognition as both an acknowledgement of his past contributions and a call to greater service, promising to continue promoting the ideals, values and image of the university wherever he goes.

“It’s a great honour to be given an award by the university. Thank you very much, sir,” Ikpeme said.

As part of his commitment to the institution, Ikpeme announced a ₦1 million annual prize contribution to the university’s Vice-Chancellor’s Football Competition for students.

He said ₦500,000 would go to the winning team, ₦300,000 to the runners-up and ₦200,000 to the third-placed team.

“When I visited your office, I asked for clarification on the university’s annual Vice-Chancellor’s football competition for students. Having confirmed that, I want to donate ₦1 million to that competition every year,” he said.

Ikpeme also presented five copies of his newly published book, Perspectives on Sports Development in Nigeria: Challenges and Ways Forward, to the university.

Three copies were donated to the university library, while two were presented to his former department, Human Kinetics.

“I felt I should make a contribution to sports in general, so I published a book, which was unveiled on 18 June,” he said.

Egbewole said Ikpeme deserved the ambassadorial honour because of his consistent efforts to project UNILORIN positively through his professional and public engagements.

Ikpeme previously lectured at the University of Calabar before serving as Sole Administrator of the Cross River State Sports Council.

He joined the NFF as Deputy Secretary-General (Technical) in 2007 and rose to the position of Deputy General Secretary in 2015.