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The MD/CEO Cup for male and female staff of the Niger Delta Development Commission has commenced at the Samson Siasia Stadium in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State.
Speaking during the opening match of the five-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 company with the Bayelsa State representative on the Governing Board of the NDDC, Senator Denyanbofa Dimaro, said the competition was a good opportunity for the commission’s staff to compete among themselves and build team spirit.
He said the objective of the tournament was to create 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, Ofiong Ephraim, applauded the football competition, stating, ”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 added that 16 teams from all the directorates in NDDC were participating in the championship.
The Chairman of NDDC Staff Union, Anthony Gbendo, observed that the competition would boost the physical wellbeing of its members and keep them in good shape to do their work effectively.
The preliminary stages of the competition would see eight male teams and eight 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.