From 2020 to 2022, Beacon Power Services awarded a Student-Athlete scholarship to Making of Champions (MoC) Athletics Academy Athlete, Gracious Ushie, and are once again stepping into the Athletics terrain and thrown their weight behind the fastest growing Secondary School Athletics Championships in Nigeria, MTN CHAMPS, which is set to make a return for Season 3 in 2025!
Since taking the Nigerian Track and Field scene by storm in 2023, MTN CHAMPS has held across seven cities in Nigeria, featuring over 15,000 athletes from 900 schools and teams, with 20 athletes selected from Seasons 1 and 2 and currently being trained at the MoC Athletics Academy in Lagos, sponsored by MTN.
Season 3 will take place in three cities: Benin (March 13th to 15th), Lagos (April 9th to 12th), and the Grand Final in Uyo (April 30th to May 3rd), and Beacon Power Services (BPS), which is headquartered in Lagos and develops energy software and provides data analytics services for Nigeria’s power sector, has entered a partnership with MoC to award Senior Secondary School Scholarships to two athletes selected from Season 3 of MTN CHAMPS to MoC Athletics Academy from 2025 to 2028.
This is no new territory to the organisation which stepped in to offer a lifeline to Ushie during the pandemic, helping him fulfil his ambitions of being a great athlete whilst getting an education by sponsoring his tuition fees, gym membership and physiotherapy support, transportation to school and training and travel to competitions across Nigeria. In 2023, Ushie secured a full Track and Field scholarship to the University of Southern Mississippi in the US and is now in his second year at the institution.
Furthermore, BPS’ support of Gracious Ushie inspired his younger brothers, Showers and Prosper, to also toe the line of their older sibling. The duo competed in Seasons 1 and 2 of MTN CHAMPS and were selected among the 20 Most Valuable Performers (MVPs) who were subsequently awarded scholarships into the MoC Athletics Academy in Lagos, sponsored by MTN, making it a great full circle moment for the organisation who have made a comeback in their support of the development of Track and Field in Nigeria.
Reacting to the development, MoC Founder/CEO, Bambo Akani said: ‘’It’s an honour for us to continue with Beacon Power Services as one of our main Student-Athlete Scholarship sponsors. They were with us from the beginning, supporting one of our top athletes in the previous phase, Gracious Ushie, and now they are returning to continue building on the work they’ve done with Making of Champions so far, so we’re thankful to Beacon Power Services for extending the frontiers of their operations beyond powering the country and continent, to supporting the quest to raise future Olympic and World Champions for Nigeria.”
CEO of Beacon Power Services, Abimbola Adisa, gives an insight into the decision to support MTN CHAMPS via the sponsorship of athletes discovered from Season 3 of the competition.
He said: “This partnership reflects our core value of growth and development. We see nurturing talent as a commitment to our community and the future. By supporting organizations like MoC, we’re investing in young people to create genuine opportunities that inspire the next generation of leaders.”
MTN CHAMPS is modelled after the Jamaican High school CHAMPS and is poised to become the primary platform for identifying and nurturing promising athletes who could go on to represent Nigeria in international competitions such as the Olympics and World Championships amongst others.
