Alesa Eleme where hundreds of national economic installations such as refineries are located with surging private ventures is said to be set for economic acceleration.
To kick-start the new move, the community revived their annual football tournament which has been moribund for over a decade.
On Sunday, January 4, 2026, the stadium was filled to the brim attracting top personalities in and out of Alesa. At a point, top political leaders drove in in convoys to come and grace the occasion and spread financial awards to winners.
Although the giant cup was won by Okori FC while Awalama and Kolopi came second and third out of the 12 teams that locked horns, the talk about return of unity to the area seemed the bigger trophy.
Insiders said the area produced a bulk of football stars that populated the defunct Eleme United FC, but the crash of football tournaments over the years seemed to kill the spirit and energy of footballing in the area.
This was followed by crisis, violence, division, disunity, and all forms of conflicts that made cohesion difficult and development a mirage.
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As the winners including highest goal scorer, man of the tournament, best goalkeeper, etc carted away millions of naira as prizes, the elders and top leaders talked about return of unity as bigger trophy.
Communal life was said to have returned. This was particularly echoed by the paramount ruler of the community, the king, Emere JD Nkpe, as well as Emmanuel Olaka, the chairman of the Board of Trustee who also is chairman of the Alesa Land Development Committee.
The king who said markets shut down to herald the football fiesta said Alesa is now united once more, warning anyone not in support of this new-found unity to ship out.
Commending a land investor, the Mayor of Housing, My-ACE China, who has galvanized Alesa, the king reminded the people of the Alesa Land Development Committee urging any land buyer or seller to go through the government-recognised committee.
Humphrey Obele, captain of the winning team, profusely commended the Mayor of Housing for setting a wonderful stage for young people to shake their muscles after over 12 years.
Beyond football:
Amidst the whoops and cracks of excitement, China, the Mayor of Housing, CEO of the Housing and Construction Mayor Ltd, who is behind the Alesa Highlands Sustainable Green Smart City, spoke beyond football.
The proposer of the ‘Economic Triangle’ with along the Rivers, Abia, Akwa Ibom axis, talked about the 3Ps formula thus: “Peace promotes Productivity, Productivity promotes Profitability, and Profitability, again, will promote Peace. So that’s a circle.
“So, we came into this community—as a company and we believe in scaling Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR).
“So, while doing our CSR, we asked the community what touches their heart most, apart from the many CSR projects being done and lined up ahead, and they pointed to football. Everybody loves football.”
He said there are two things that unite Nigeria far above culture one religion; that is money and football. “So, we decided to sponsor this so as to showcase the unity of our host community to the world.”
He promised to continue to sponsor the football tournament as requested by the community and make it better every year, so long as the community would remain united and hungry for development, the funds coming from the 10% equity allocation to the community.
