Oshoala Academy Hosts Empowerment Event For Girls

On Tuesday, the Asisat Oshoala Academy‘s Sports, Humanitarian, and Education Project held an empowerment event at Obele Secondary School in Surulere for almost 100 girls from nearby communities.

The Children’s Day event featured Taekwondo sessions on self-defence, leadership development workshops facilitated by the Youth Empowerment Foundation, CPR training, and personal hygiene education aimed at empowering the next generation of young women.

Head of Technical at the Asisat Oshoala Academy, Alabi Kazeem, said the choice of venue was strategic, explaining, “Surulere is a sports city. That’s why we chose Obele Odan High School and Ideal High School, to ensure more girls benefit from what the SHE Project has mapped out for them.”

Kazeem emphasised the need to discover and nurture grassroots talent, highlighting the programme’s impact by noting that the 2025 Most Valuable Player of the Nigerian Women’s League, Janet Akekeromowei of Nasarawa Amazons, was discovered at one of their events.

“She was discovered at one of our events at Police College, Ikeja. She was MVP and top scorer last season. She has also represented Nigeria’s U-17 and U-20 women’s teams,” Kazeem said.

Programme coordinator of the academy, Oluwaseun Savage, explained the broader vision behind the initiative.

“We want girls to explore, not just in football, but across different areas. That is why we included Taekwondo and hygiene education. A girl should know how to protect herself and maintain her well-being,” Savage said.

Emzor Pharmaceuticals, a key partner of the initiative, led a session on deworming and public health awareness. A company representative said their support for the foundation stems from Oshoala’s inspiring impact on girls and women.

“Asisat is somebody that many women who are just coming up, women footballers in Nigeria look up to. So partnering with Asisat Foundation, partnering with Asisat herself shows people know that we want to identify with greatness,” the representative said.

For many participants, the day proved transformational. Yekini Eniola, a JSS3 student at Obele High School, said she learned practical life-saving skills and plans to pass the knowledge to her peers and family.