Olympian Deji Aliu hails MTN for providing a platform for kids to showcase their God-given talent

Olympic 4×100 bronze medallist and two-time World Athletics Championships finalist, Deji Aliu says mobile telecommunications giants, MTN has provided a lifeline for up-and-coming talent in Nigeria to showcase their God-given talent as the first leg of the MTN CHAMPS starts Thursday in Benin City, capital of Edo state.

Deji, who is also Making of Champions, MoC’s Head Coach and Nationwide Meet Director for the championships, also hailed Yusuf Alli, a former Commonwealth Games champion and Nigeria’s reigning record holder in the long jump for identifying with the championships.

‘I want to say thank you to MTN Nigeria for being the backbone of this championships. This is going to give a lot of kids a platform to showcase their God-given talent.

‘I also want to use the same opportunity to say thank you to one of Nigeria’s best athletes and Chairman of Edo State Sports Commission for the support. I can assure you all that this is going to be a joyful ride,’ said Deji at the pre-championships press conference in Benin city.

Deji, the 2003 African Games 100m champion and Nigeria’s record holder in the 60m (indoors) also revealed how age cheats will be curbed at the championships.

‘One of the structures that has been put in place to curb age cheating is the introduction of three different age categories (Cadet, Youth and Junior).

‘This provides the kids with more alternatives to compete, as opposed to having only one age group, which the athletes would all struggle to compete under. MoC is known for quality; we’ve done it before and we are going to do it better with the backing of MTN.

‘We’ve been able to produce national champions in three years, and now with MTN coming in, we’re going to do ten times better than before.’