Yemisi Izuora
Stakeholders in the Nigerian Oil and Gas Industry have applauded the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) for resuscitating the GMD’s Golf Cup Tournament and for promoting the spirit of sportsmanship after a two-year interregnum of the competition.
Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Dr. Ibe Kachikwu, represented by the Executive Secretary of the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB), Engr. Simbi Wabote, gave the kudos to the Corporation during the ceremonial tee-off of the GMD’s Golf Cup 2017 tournament at the IBB Golf Club in Abuja recently.
Dr. Kachikwu said taking to physical exercise was beneficial to keep body and soul together, describing the tournament as a useful platform to network and rejuvenate executives in the Nigerian Oil and Gas Industry.
The Minister of State for Petroleum Resources thanked the NNPC, which he said had encouraged golf in the country.
Speaking at the event, the Group Managing Director of the NNPC, Dr. Maikanti Baru, expressed the readiness of the Corporation to continue to promote sporting culture, stressing that the GMD’s annual Golf Cup Tournament has come to stay.
Represented by the Chief Operating Officer (COO) Gas and Power, Engr.. Saidu Mohammed, the GMD said the significance of the tournament was to encourage Nigerians, irrespective of age, to take part in sporting activities which is a good requirement for healthy living.
“The significance of the cup is to make sure that NNPC embraces the culture of sportsmanship and bring back the glories of past years. We wish to encourage the youths to take to sports not just in Abuja but everywhere. We have done it in Port Harcourt, Kaduna, Benin and in Lagos and we will continue to do it,” Dr. Baru averred.
The GMD said the period when the tournament did not hold could be described as lost years, emphasizing that the GMD’s trophy was much cherished as attested to by the presence of the high number of players from golf clubs across the country.
Speaking in a similar vein, former GMD of NNPC who instituted the tournament, Dr. Jackson Gaius-Obaseki, said it afforded industry players to reconnect and build partnership that would take the Nigeria Oil and Gas Industry to the next level even as the industry navigates through the difficult times.
“The GMD’s Golf Cup started during my time as GMD and, like I said, we were looking for an activity that will bring all the industry players together and this was one of them. It will surprise Nigerians that a lot of the major decisions we took at that time between us and the Majors were taken on the golf course. That’s why you found out that it was a period when we recorded some appreciable growth in the Oil and Gas Industry,” Dr. Obaseki revealed.
Dr. Obaseki stated that he was happy with the tournament, disclosing that it was part of his legacies at NNPC.
The tournament attracted participants from the NNPC, some of the International Oil Companies, retirees and veterans.
The highpoint of the event was the presentation of prizes to winners of different categories of the tournament.