18th August, 2010
“All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy.â€
The above aphorism could aptly describe the situation at the camp of Adopt-A-Talent Sports Programme at Nigerian Army Sports Camp in Somolu, Lagos, Nigeria last Sunday afternoon, when the athletes and coaches observed the rest day with entertainment in an electrifying singing and dancing sessions that lasted for more than five hours.
The athletes, about 120, both boys and girls, took to the stage to render songs, drawing plaudits from the audience at the Myoung Barracks.
Like a one-man symphony orchestra, 14-year-old Abraham Tano from Yewa Junior Grammar School, Ikorodu, came on stage and held the entire audience in the hall spellbound with his sonorous voice, coupled with a syncronised melody.
The kid instantly became a celebrity as he added glamour to the event. The J.S.S I student of Yewa Junior Grammar School, apart from being a budding Volleyballer, has now revealed he could also be adopted as a potential teenage musical genius.
Tano was not alone in the singing competition, as an athletic marvel, Margaret Sunday, a SS II student of Somolu Senior High School, took her turn with the rendition of Mariah Carey’ s melodious song “There is a hero†which won an applause from her colleagues.
The sprinter from Somolu Senior High School has promised to take journalism as a career after her secondary and university education, apart from sports.
The star dancer of the day was 14-year-old SS I student of Shinning Lords College, Apapa Road, Ebute-Meta, Dolapo Oyebola, who stole the show in the dancing competition.
To add colour to the event planned by the management of the programme headed by Prince ‘Wale Oladunjoye, the Senior Special Assistant on Grassroots Sports Development to Governor Babatunde Raji Fashola, Ebot, more a comedian than athlete, came with rib-breaking jokes.
He kept spectators on the edge of their seats. In fact, it was not a day reserved for athletes alone as the Chaperon, Gift Okunwa Sowemimo, an ex-international, rendered soul-touching songs.
The Sunday was dedicated as rest day for the campers to relax and have fun, singing, dancing, comedies, and watching films.
The Media Officer of the Adopt-A-Talent Sports Programme, Segun Adenuga, said that the camp will finally close on 25 August, 2010.