Adebayo wins 2017 GoalFest award
By Florence Israel, Abuja
One of Nigeria’s rising blogger, Suleiman Adebayo, has won the GoalFest 2017 Football Influencer of the Year award.
Adebayo beat BBC’s Shina Okeleji and Kiibati Bankole of Brila FM to win the second edition of the award.
Speaking after the award, the CEO of Pooja Media Communications, Adebayo, dedicated the award to God for giving him the gift of life to make it.
“It was a great moment in my young career and this has given me cause to work harder.
“Winning this award shows that hard work pays and I am going to continue working so hard to maintain the standard and also improve on it.
“To other nominees, I want to say we are all winners for the work we have put in the year under review. I learn from you guys every day and I respect your brands.
“To all well-wishers, readers, followers and fans, I have one thing to say; without you, there is no me or the Pooja brand,” he said.
Reacting to the award, the spokesman of the group, Adepoju Tobi, said the award showed that the country had accepted the role of bloggers in promoting football and sports in the country.
Adepoju added that gone were the days when bloggers were termed jobless as they were now at the forefront of promoting sports.
He added: “I remembered some years when some people called bloggers jobless or people that should not be taken seriously, but now things have changed.
“This award is a wakeup call to other members of NMJ to put in more efforts and show the world that they are ready to change the face of sports reporting.”
