Burna Boy hands Saka Socrates Award at Ballon d'Or in London
- Burna Boy present di 2026 Socrates Award to Arsenal's Bukayo Saka at di Ballon d'Or ceremony for London.
- Saka win am for charity work with BigShoe, wey pay for surgeries for children for Nigeria and oda African kontris.
- Burna Boy use di stage to tok about im football academy for Nigeria.
Nigerian singer Burna Boy waka enter stage for di Ballon d'Or ceremony for London on Monday night to hand di 2026 Socrates Award to Arsenal and England winger Bukayo Saka.
Di ceremony hold for Palladium Theatre. Di Socrates Award, wey France Football set up for 2022 with Peace and Sport, dey go to footballers wey use dia profile for humanitarian work. E carry di name of Sócrates, di late Brazilian midfielder.
Saka, wey get Nigerian heritage, dem pick am for im work with BigShoe, one charity wey dey pay for medical treatment for children. According to TheCable, di partnership fund operations for 120 children for Kano for 2022. Di following year, di charity back surgery for anoda 100 children for Rwanda, Kenya and Tanzania.
On di podium, Saka read out one letter from person wey di charity help, one child wey come through eye surgery. He also tok about one 12-year-old boy for one Rwandan village wey get support from BigShoe to help am cope with sight loss.
“It's an honour to receive this award, on behalf of all the children we have been able to help, thank you,” Saka tok, according to Leadership.
He tok say im family dey work closely with di charity. “We try to do our best to help children wey no get di same opportunities or capabilities we get,” he tok, per TheCable.
Burna Boy's academy and wetin go happen next
Before he hand over di trophy, Burna Boy tok about di football academy wey he set up for Nigeria some years ago to back di game for home. He tok say he hope di project go one day produce one player wey go come back to di Ballon d'Or as winner.
Past winners of di Socrates Award include Senegal's Sadio Mané, Brazil's Vinícius Júnior and Spain's Jenni Hermoso. Last year e go to di Xana Foundation, wey Paris Saint-Germain coach Luis Enrique set up in memory of im daughter.
For Nigerian readers, di night put two familiar names for di same frame: one Grammy-winning artiste from di country and one footballer wey im family roots dey here, with charity money wey don already reach children for Kano. Di surgeries wey Saka help pay for na di kind of support wey many families no fit afford on dia own.
Wetin go happen next dey with BigShoe and di families wey e dey work with, as di charity continue to fund treatment for children for Nigeria and across Africa.
