Nigeria’s quest to become a strong player in martial arts has received a boost from a non-governmental organisation, Youth Empowerment Foundation (YEF), which is planning to set up a nursery, where young talented girls will be equipped with life skills, boost their self-confidence, improve their self-defence and fitness level.
Speaking at a girls-only taekwondo championship in Abuja, the executive secretary of the organisation, Iwalola Akin-Jimoh, said that the move is in alliance with the organisation’s mission to empower youths through sports.
He said that the vision is to create a safe space for girls to learn and build themselves.Akin-Jimoh stated that such sports as taekwondo and football are used for life skills development, just as taekwondo, not only prepares girls for self-defence, but also teaches them conflict management.She said, “We work mainly with girls because we want to encourage them to take to sports.
We also encourage parents to allow their girl/child to do sports, while using both football and taekwondo to teach life skills like self-confidence, self-esteem, defence, communication and team building.” “We know that there are many competitions, but most times, the competitions are for both boys and girls.