Mutiu Sunmonu Managing Director, Shell Petroleum Development Company, Nigeria says the 2013 Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC)/Shell Golf tournament in Port Harcourt will reach out to wider golf community.
Sunmonu said this when the competition teed-off in Port Harcourt on Saturday at the tournament aimed at building stronger relationships with the key stakeholders in the oil industry and beyond.
The Managing Director said that the company was ready to provide a forum for golf to flourish in the country.
“Our interest is not only on golf, we have been sponsoring football, especially the All Nigeria Secondary School Football Championship known as NNPC/Shell Cup.
“The secondary school football has been sponsored for 15 years, now it has become a formidable brand as Nigeria’s biggest youth football championship,” Sunmonu said.
He hailed the players turnout for the 2013 golf tournament, saying that it was quite encouraging compared to the previous year.
Mr Andrew Yakubu, the Managing Director of NNPC said that the game was not only for the elites but for everybody.
“The only thing is for you to have interest in the game and be able to purchase the kits,” Yakubu said.
The NNPC boss, who was represented by Dr Kennie Obateru, Head, Public Affairs, National Petroleum Investment Management Service (NAPIMS), urged people not to categorise the game as either poor or rich.
Mr Isaac Edemode, Captain, Air Assault Golf Club of Port Harcourt, said that more than 180 golfers were participating in the 2013 NNPC/Shell Golf tournament.
Edemode said that the game was still growing in the country and called on the people to embrace it.
“We want people to pick interest in the game and that’s why we brought a brand new SUV car for whoever will emerge the winner of the championship,” he said.