Beacon Power Services is excited to collaborate with MTN CHAMPS, the fastest-growing Secondary School Athletics Championship in Nigeria, which will return for Season 3 in 2025!
Since making a significant impact on the Nigerian Track and Field scene in 2023, MTN CHAMPS has been held in seven cities across Nigeria, featuring over 15,000 athletes from 900 schools and teams. Twenty athletes from Seasons 1 and 2 are currently being trained at the MoC Athletics Academy in Lagos, with sponsorship provided 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). Beacon Power Services (BPS), headquartered in Lagos and dedicated to developing energy software and providing data analytics services for Nigeria’s power sector, has partnered with MoC to award Senior Secondary School Scholarships to two athletes selected from Season 3 of MTN CHAMPS, enabling them to attend the MoC Athletics Academy from 2025 to 2028.
Beacon Power Services awarded a Student-Athlete scholarship to Gracious Ushie of the Making of Champions (MoC) Athletics Academy, covering tuition, gym membership, physiotherapy, transportation, training, and competition travel across Nigeria. This support enabled him to chase his athletic dreams while studying. In 2023, Ushie earned a full Track and Field scholarship to the University of Southern Mississippi, where he is now in his second year.
BPS’s support for Gracious Ushie inspired his younger brothers, Showers, and Prosper, to follow his path. They competed in Seasons 1 and 2 of MTN CHAMPS and were among the 20 MVPs awarded scholarships to the MoC Athletics Academy in Lagos, sponsored by MTN. This marks a full-circle moment for the organization, which has renewed its support for Track and Field development in Nigeria.
Reacting to this development, MoC Founder/CEO Bambo Akani stated, “It’s an honor for us to continue our partnership with Beacon Power Services as one of our main Student-Athlete Scholarship sponsors. They have been with us since the beginning, supporting one of our top athletes, Gracious Ushie, in the previous phase, and now they are returning to further the work they’ve done with Making of Champions. We’re grateful to Beacon Power Services for extending their efforts beyond powering the country and continent to supporting our quest to raise future Olympic and World Champions for Nigeria.”
Abimbola Adisa, CEO of Beacon Power Services, provided insights on our decision to back MTN CHAMPS by sponsoring athletes identified in Season 3 of the competition.
He stated, “This collaboration embodies our fundamental value of growth and development. We see nurturing talent as a responsibility to our community and future. By supporting organizations like MoC, we invest in the youth to forge authentic opportunities that inspire the upcoming generation of leaders.”
MTN CHAMPS is modeled after the Jamaican High School CHAMPS and aims to become the primary platform for identifying and nurturing promising athletes who could represent Nigeria in international competitions such as the Olympics and World Championships.
