Solidarity Day: How gender, equity and fairness play out in Aleyita Football Field
Solidarity Day: How gender, equity and fairness play out in Aleyita Football Field
By Magdalene Ukuedojor
On a cool Thursday evening in Aleyita, 11 young players trade tackles with an opposing team; they dribble and defend their post, riding their team to a 1:0 victory.
The winning goal is scored by Vivian Jonathan, the only girl in an ‘all boys’ football team.
This game is one in a series of spectacular football matches the Aleyita Community, located along Airport Road in Abuja Municipal Area Council of the Federal Capital Territory, has witnessed in the last three years.
The community and other spectators troop in to watch Vivian match strength for strength with her male counterparts since 2019 when she joined the team at 10 years old.
At 13, she heads the team as captain of Green Soccer Academy.
The beauty of this football club is in the solidarity that Vivian’s teammates and her coaches, who are all male, exhibited to make sure she settles in to give her best on a field dominated by boys.
This is the spirit behind the celebration of the International Human Solidarity Day, declared by the United Nations in 2005.
The UN General Assembly, by resolution 60/209 identified solidarity as one of the fundamental and universal values that should underlie relationship between peoples in the twenty-first century.
In that regard, it proclaimed 20 December of each year as International Human Solidarity Day.
The day promotes global cooperation and solidarity.
The day celebrates unity in diversity and raises public awareness of the importance of solidarity; wherein those who either suffer or benefit least deserve help from those who benefit most.
Solidarity is mutual support within a group; an awareness of shared interests, objectives, standards, and sympathies creating a psychological sense of unity of groups or classes.
It is the ties in a society that bind people together as one.
The young football players in Aleyita demonstrate solidarity at its best.
Since Nigeria’s independence in 1960, women have clamoured for inclusion, equity, fairness and gender equality in social and political sectors.
Women bills for affirmative action have been debated on the floor of the National Assembly for more visibility and leadership roles assigned to women.
On April 6, 2022, Nigeria’s judicial system granted 35 per cent allocation of all appointments to women.
The court ordered the Nigerian Government to implement the National Gender Policy which provides for the allocation of 35 per cent of all appointments to women.
The judgment was by Justice Donatus Okorowo, of a Federal High Court in Abuja, in favour of Women in Politics Forum, who filed the suit.
The situation is no different in sports, which is maximally male-dominated.
Although the national women football team- the Super Falcons have made the country proud by dominating their games in the African continent and other international games, there is still the need for more women players and women football leagues in the country.
While Nigeria still strives to project women and grant them more opportunities to soar, the Greenland Soccer Academy has led by example for three years, by working in solidarity with their only female team member.
How Vivian got to play in a boys’ team
“I love seeing boys play football and the ball they play gives me joy so I told my mummy I wanted to play football.
“She wasn’t happy at first because she had better career choices for me than football but she could not stop my interest in football, so she reluctantly let me play for fun,”Vivian said.
Vivian said she was about 8 years old when she exhibited her love for football, and as the last child in a family of 6, her parents let her play in the midst of other children while her siblings were given chores.
Now at 13 and a Junior Secondary School (JSS) 3 student of JSS Aleyita, she is proud to be a football team’s captain.
“I started playing till I got people that supported me to play in this club. I joined the Greenland Soccer Academy in 2019. I am a midfielder and over the years, I also rose to become the captain of the team,”she said.
Vivian’s coach, Chukwubuike Obona, also known as Coach Chike, said he started the Greenland Academy in 2013 in the Federal Capital Territory.
“I discovered Vivian when she was 10 years old on the streets when they were playing; I encouraged her to start coming to my team.
“I started coaching her, and then I met her parents as well. I let them know that I want the girl to play football because I saw potential and a great future in her.
“Initially they did not agree, they wanted her to do other things that females do but when they saw that she picked interest whenever football was mentioned or played, or instantly developed a fever if she wasn’t allowed to go to the pitch, they let her come out to play.”
Coach Chike said that Vivian’s presence in the male-dominated club had caused uproar in Aleyita Community in the early days of coaching.
“Members of her family and the community had to summon a meeting; they tried to dissuade her from football but after series of meetings and advocacy, her father stood his ground.
“What also helped was that her uncle is the present chief of the community; their influence created acceptance although half-heartedly at first, but now the community is very proud of her achievements and often gather to watch her dribble the boys,”Coach Chike said.
Why was Vivian made captain of the team?
“I saw her seriousness; she was much organised. Equally, a whole other people that were older than her listened to and respected her.
“I observed this for some time and then made her the captain. I have never regretted that decision because when I am not around she sets every programme for practice just as if I am there.
“Also, when I am not around, the team follows her every move and lead, there are no clashes,” Coach Chike said.
Her teammates say there are no discriminations or disparity on the football field and are free to tackle their captain irrespective of her gender.
Wisdom Wilson, 13, and a student of Junior Secondary School, Maitama also plays in the Greenland Soccer Academy.
“Vivian is very good with the ball and that is why she was picked as the captain and not because she is the only girl in the team.
“We all see ourselves as equals and not like she is a girl and we are boys.
“And because we are teammates, we protect her in the community; even if other boys want to fight her, she has a whole team of boys looking out for her in the community,” he said.
Another teammate, Mohammed Suleiman and student of Junior Secondary School Aleyita, says although they trade tackles on the field with their female captain, it is all healthy competition.
“It feels very good playing in the team, Vivian tackles me a lot in the field, I tackle her too; sometimes we put leg for her to fall if she tackles us too much although it is all healthy competition.
“We need other girls in the team because we are a unique team here.
“What we do as a team for our captain is that we make sure that other girls and boys do not tease, discriminate nor laugh at her because she is playing football with boys,” Suleiman said.
The solidarity displayed by these young players has impacted the community greatly; more families are seeing the need to introduce their female children to football.
Chiagoziem Nneji, a 9-year-old girl of Pilot Science School, Wuse, has just joined the team, now she looks up to the captain and other male teammates to horn her skills.
“Vivian encourages me to play more because I love football and I like playing it.
“I started playing in this team because I feel it’s the best place to play and I have a companion.
“My parents want me to be a doctor but footballers now earn more money than doctors and football is what gives me joy, what I like to play,” she said.
There are many benefits to playing ball and doing it in solidarity the young players say.
After their matches, they wash their jerseys and help each other complete their household chores.
Coach Chike says that football in Aleyita has curbed unruly behaviour as the young players have no time to indulge in vices after school hours and gruelling football practice in the evenings.
He, however, ensures that the game does not in any way diminish their educational prowess as he makes them practice only twice weekly on Thursday evenings and Saturday mornings.
There are high hopes for these players with great potential in Aleyita.
Vivian hopes to follow in the steps of her hero- Asisat Oshoala, a Super Falcon star, who has continued to make Nigeria proud with her skills.
But for a community team to raise such shining stars, Assistant Coach of Greenland Academy, Coach Andrew Bangs, says the young players need sponsorship to replace worn out jerseys, balls, boots and other practice equipment.
“The coaches most times task themselves and the players to afford sporting gears and hire buses to play matches outside Aleyita,” Bangs said.
In spite of these challenges, the team looks forward to receiving more female players as it is very open to gender mainstreaming and with solidarity, they can achieve more just as they have with Vivian and Chiagoziem.(NAN)
Edited by Ismail Abdulaziz
**If used, please credit the writer and the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN)
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