Super Eagles defender wants to use sports to save Nigerian kids from poverty

Echiejile through a new campaign is creating awareness on poverty and has identified sports as a main tool of eradicating it for kids.

Children account for nearly half of the world’s extreme poor with the latest data from the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) reveals that 47 percent of people living in extreme poverty are 18 years old or younger.

In a documentary released for the campaign, a story is told of an eight-year-old kid who has dreams of becoming a boxer.

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Sultan Adekoya from Egbeda, a suburb of Lagos says he wants to be like boxing greats Muhammad Ali and Floyd Mayweather.

For Adekoya, Echiejile believes that boxing remains the eight-year-old biggest chance to escape poverty.

“We must fight for our children to ensure that they are empowered and that they have better, they do better. We must fight for their smiles,” Echiejile said.

Echiejile grew up in Benin where he started his football career with Bendel Insurance. From there he secured a move to Rennes in France and has gone on to play for the likes of Braga and Monaco.

He now plays his football for Sporting de Gijón where he is on loan from Monaco.

He has represented the Super Eagles at two Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) winning one title in the 2013 AFCON in South Africa.