The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC Ltd) has pledged commitment to work with stakeholders in the sports sector to develop and commercialise the game of football in Nigeria.
NNPC’s Group Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Mele Kyari, made the commitment while receiving a delegation from the National Sports Commission, the International Management Group (IMG) and Afrosport Network at the NNPC Towers on Thursday.
While addressing the delegation led by the Chairman of the National Sports Commission and Minister of Sports, Alhaji Shehu Dikko, the GCEO said NNPC Ltd was ready to be part of the initiative to revamp the nation’s football.
‘’NNPC will be a prime partner in the journey to bring back value to our football, to reshape it, re-engineer it and bring happiness to our people’’, Kyari stated.
In a statement by the Chief Corporate Communications Officer of the NNPC Ltd., Mr. Olufemi Soneye, the GCEO expressed delight that the company was identified as a critical partner in the journey of making Nigerian Football work again, stressing that football was a tool of immense value that could bring untold benefits to the Nigerian economy and to the NNPC Ltd as a company.
Speaking earlier, the Chairman of the National Sports Commission and Minister of Sports, Alhaji Shehu Dikko, said football was fundamental to the economies of the best footballing countries in the world, adding that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has called for immediate action to revamp the game.
He said the multiplier effects of football were enormous and could facilitate the revamp of related industries across the value chain.
The Minister noted that IMG which promotes the English Premier League was invited as a technical partner to leverage their experience in the sport.
It could be recalled that NNPC Ltd once had a football club, the NNPC FC, Warri, which played in the Division One of the then Nigeria National League before it was disbanded in 1989.
