Former Super Eagles international Garba Lawal has poured encomiums on the Airtel Rising Star football programme. Lawal defined the academy as the nursery that will produce future players for the national team.

The screening of players from the Abuja-Ilorin zones for this year’s Airtel Rising Star will begin today at the Old Parade Ground, Zone 10, Abuja, after its planned take off yesterday was postponed because of heavy downpour. The exercise will end on Saturday.

Lawal, who doubles as a member of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) Technical Committee as well as a zonal coordinator handling the programme, said the Airtel Rising Star will continue to be relevant in the scheme of Nigeria football as a window which coaches will use in the discovery of raw talents.

“We are looking for the best players and our searchlight is not limited to the male players alone, but the programme is also designed with our female players in mind. The programme which started in 2011 has proved to be a remarkable success given that the current captain of the national U-20 team, Musa Mohammed and Zaharadeen Bello, both members of the national U-17 team that won the FIFA U-17 World Cup in Dubai last year, were discovered during their spell at the Airtel Rising Stars,” Lawal said.

Nine teams from the northern part of the country are featuring in the screening exercise in Abuja.

It is expected that the talented ones among them and others from four remaining zones will constitute the 32 players that will be camped in Lagos, where the best 16 players will be eventually picked to represent Nigeria at an international youth tournament to be held in either Gabon or South Africa, later this year.

Apart from Lawal, other Airtel Rising Stars coordinators are ex Super Eagles and Super Falcons players. They are; Peter Rufai (Lagos); Mutiu Adepoju (Ilorin); Chioma Ajunwa (Port Harcourt); and Ann Chiejele (Benin).