Mr Sunday Dare, second left; Mr. Mike Sangster, second right, and others at the event

…Tips D’ Tigers, D’Tigress for Laurels in Tokyo

The Minister  of Youth and Sports Development, Mr Sunday Dare, has  commended  Total E&P Nigeria  Ltd for their  commitment  towards the Development  of Basketball  as well as the Youth.

Speaking  in Lagos on Tuesday  during the signing  of the Memorandum of understanding  between  the Nigeria  Baskeball Federation  and Total E&P Nigeria Ltd, Mr. Dare said he was impressed  by the support of the company, even as he urged other companies  and individuals  to emulate Total.

In his words: ” The signing of this MOU demonstrates once again the goodwill  and corporate social responsibility  of Total E&P Nigeria in identifying  with basketball development in  our country. I sincerely  thank  the Management of Total  E&P Nigeria Ltd for sponsorship of the  National Division 1&2 Men’s Basketball  Leagues, which indicates a clear commitment  in the development of the sports of Basketball  in Nigeria. The present  Board of the Nigerian  Basketball  Federation  under the leadership  of Engineer  Ahmadu Musa Kida has made Nigeria proud  with great achievements  at both  National and international levels.  I must comnend the board  of the Nigerian  Basketball Federation  for putting  Nigeria as a leading  Basketball  nation in Africa and showing commitment  towards continuously  bringing out the best in the players and also ensuring some level of consistency  in their international  performance. I urge the  board to continue  in order to bring more laurels  to Nigeria, exemplified  by the  fact that for the first time in the history of  Basketball, Nigeria  has qualified both the  male and female  National  Teams for the forthcoming  Olympic Games scheduled  to hold in Japan next year. I’m  confident  that Nigeria would do well at the Olympics next year. For now, basketball  is my number sport”

Speaking  at the  event, The Managing  Director of  Total  E&P Nigeria Ltd Mr. Mike Sangster said the company  was committed  to basketball and  youth development in Nigeria, hence the sponsorship of the  National leagues. He announced a N150 Million  five- year sponsorship.

In the same vein, President of the  Nigerian Basketball Federation  Engineer  Ahmadu Musa Kida said” I want to sincerely   thank you for your unrelenting  support towards  the development of  Basketball. Your support has put us in the right pedestal to get our players and technical  crew to the right place. You have really  removed alot of burden  from the Federations  through  your relentless  efforts to reposition sports”

Kida  assured  that the sponsorship  would outlive his tenure” Whether i win the next election or not, this sponsorship  would be completely  handed over to  whoever  becomes the  next President of the  Nigeria  Basketball Federation. This is not about me or anyone, but the total development of  Nigerian Basketball  and our youth”

This is not the first time that Total would be supporting sports.

In December last year, Total supported two non-governmental organisations with N1million each during a Golf Tournament. The NGOs were Paroche Outreach Foundation that campaigned against abuse of mind bending substances and did “post-rehabilitation care for those struggling with any kind of addiction.” The other is the Nigerwives Braille Book Production Centre, an NGO which, according to a Sun report, was set up by foreign women married to Nigerians providing educational materials for the visually impaired primary, secondary and tertiary students.

The Managing Director and Chief Executive of Total E&P Nigeria Ltd, Mr Mike Sangster, said his organisation, according to the same report, was committed to supporting sports and using the same to promote charity in Nigeria. He said that at the 2019 Total Charity Golf Tournament held at Ikoyi Club 1938, where two Non-Governmental Organisations were given cheques of N1 million each to support their programmes.

“He commended the participants in the tournament, noting that the event was for Golf competition and a platform to raise money for charity as part of the Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) initiatives by the company to support the disadvantaged in Nigeria.”