A football tournament, tagged “MD/CEO Cup” competition, for male and female staff of the Niger Delta Development Commission, NDDC, has commenced at the Samson Siasia Stadium in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State.
Speaking during the opening match of the 5-day tournament, the NDDC Managing Director, Dr. Samuel Ogbuku, stressed the importance of sports in boosting health and creating unity for enhanced performance in the work place.
Ogbuku who was in the company of the Bayelsa State representative on the Governing Board of the NDDC, Senator Denyanbofa Dimaro, said that the competition was a good opportunity for the Commission’s staff to compete among themselves and build team spirit.
He said that the objective of the tournament was to create some level of physical training for staff, encourage healthy competition outside the confines of the office and promote peaceful co-existence.
The NDDC Director of Youth and Sports, Mr. Ofiong Ephraim, applauded the football competition, noting:” It is one of the laudable programmes of the Commission. It is an initiative aimed at discovering and harnessing budding talents in the Niger Delta region.”
He appealed to the Managing Director to ensure that the football competition and other sporting activities were sustained to ensure a healthy workforce for delivering the mandate of the NDDC as an interventionist agency.
He explained that sixteen teams from all the directorates in NDDC were participating in the championship, which includes male and female footballers.
The Chairman of NDDC Staff Union, Comrade Anthony Gbendo observed that the competition would boost the physical well-being of its members and keep them in good shape to do their work effectively.
He explained that various departments, cutting across the nine NDDC states would slug it out against each other in a five-day football contest to determine which team would emerge as the champion.
He lauded the NDDC management for sponsoring the competition, stating that it would help staff to keep fit and be alert to attend to their duties.
The preliminary stages of the competition would see 8 teams for males and 8 female teams slugging it out, after which two teams will emerge, before they proceed to the finals.
In the opening match for the female teams, the MD/CEO team defeated the Chairman’s team by a lone goal in a keenly contested game.
