Super Eagles ex-international, Austin Okocha alongside his brother, Emma on Tuesday in Lagos, unveiled the Jay Jay Okocha Foundation.
Jay Jay Okocha and family
At a ceremony which took place at the I-Naira Digital Hub in the Ikoyi area of Lagos, Nigerian football legend, Austin 'Jay Jay' Okocha alongside his brother and ex-international, Emma Okocha on Tuesday in Lagos, unveiled the Jay Jay Okocha Foundation.
According to the former PSG midfielder, the foundation would help in giving kids and his ex-teammates a new direction in life.
“I come from a very poor family, I’m not from a royal home but through football, my life changed and I have a voice. What is most important in every kid’s life is education but some of these kids are out of school and I think I can use football as a tool to help them get back to school.
“I will be lying if I say I didn’t know some of my colleagues are suffering. Most of us didn’t have good advisers and were left with nothing after retirement. Another objective of this foundation is creating jobs through football. If I can set up training centres across the country, I will need my colleagues. I believe in empowering people,” Okocha said.
I-Naira.com sealed a deal with the former player as the official auctioning partner of the foundation. The company's CEO, Hillary Nwaukor, said his firm would begin auctioning the superstar’s memorabilia from August 1.
“We’re happy to partner the Jay Jay Okocha Foundation because we have same vision of giving back to the society. We will use our platform to auction his memorabilia from his playing days from August 1.
“This is a step in the right direction and I urge others to follow Jay Jay in giving back to the society as well. That is what I-Naira.com stands for,” he said.
Present on the occasion were ex-internationals; Austin Eguavoen, Mutiu Adepoju and Peter Rufai.