Former Super Eagles striker Brown Ideye was among a host of celebrities who turned out on Tuesday to support the Her Baby Box charity football match held in Lagos to mark Children’s Day, with the event raising awareness for an initiative aimed at reducing infant mortality among indigent mothers across Nigeria, Saturday PUNCH reports.
The match, organised by the Her Baby Box charity foundation, brought together celebrity teams playing under the banners of Arsenal, Chelsea and Manchester United, alongside an All-Stars side that featured Ideye.
Manchester United reached the final after defeating Arsenal 3-2, but it was the All-Stars who claimed the top prize, running out 6-0 winners to lift the trophy. Arsenal defeated Chelsea in the third-place playoff.
Singer Timi Dakolo, former Big Brother Naija housemate Alex Unusual, actor Efa Iwara and AMVCA winner Emmanuel Kanaga were among the entertainers who came out to lend their support, alongside Mr Nigeria 2018, Prince Nelson.
The event drew a lively crowd and was held by invitation, with organisers describing it as deliberately intimate for this first edition while signalling plans for a much larger gathering in future.
Her Baby Box, co-founded by Victor Amadi and Olaoluwa Gbadeyan, is a maternal and infant health intervention that provides essential newborn care kits containing items such as baby clothes, diapers, wipes and bathing materials sufficient to last from birth to six months. The kits are distributed to indigent mothers in rural communities who would otherwise lack access to basic newborn essentials. The foundation has so far reached over 500 women since its establishment.
Amadi, who played for Arsenal on the day and finished third, said the initiative was deeply personal.
“My mum lost her two infant babies. Although I didn’t meet them, she still talks about it, and it comes from a place of pain. I wouldn’t want any other woman to experience that. So any opportunity to reduce it, I’m up for it,” he said.
He added that the long-term vision is to establish primary healthcare centres for indigent mothers in rural areas nationwide, describing the absence of basic amenities — rather than complex medical conditions — as one of the leading drivers of infant mortality in Nigeria.
Gbadeyan, the foundation’s Chief Operating Officer, said football was chosen as the vehicle for the awareness campaign precisely because of its unifying power.
“We chose football to create awareness for Her Baby Box. When you combine sports with a beautiful initiative, you are able to reach more people and get a wider audience to listen to what you have to say,” he said.
He added that the short-term goal is to give every child an equal start in life, while the long-term ambition is to provide free healthcare facilities in at least two locations in each state of the federation.
Ideye, who has been involved in several charity initiatives over the years, said this cause stood apart from others he had supported.
“This is different from all the charity games I have played. This is a driven course that we need in Africa, mostly in Africa, and you cannot take that away from Nigeria given what is happening in the country at the moment. When someone comes out with this type of initiative, we have to support it,” the former Dynamo Kyiv and West Bromwich Albion striker said.
He called on the government to place the initiative among its priority programmes so that more mothers and children could benefit.
Programme organiser Esther Ekerendu noted that staging the event on Children’s Day added a layer of significance to the occasion.
“The charity match is holding on Children’s Day, so it almost commemorates the day here in Nigeria and makes supporting the cause more important,” she said, adding that the next edition would feature a bigger venue and double the crowd.
The event was supported by Planet Bottling Company, AZZA, Octave Group, Zamam Offshore and several other partners.
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