The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) has pledged to work closely with stakeholders in the sports sector to develop and commercialise the game of football in Nigeria.
Group Chief Executive Officer (GCEO) of NNPCL, Mr. Mele Kyari, made the commitment while receiving a delegation from the National Sports Commission (NSC), the International Management Group (IMG) and Afrosport Network at the NNPC Towers, on Thursday.
Addressing the delegation which was led by the chairman of the National Sports Commission and Minister of Sports, Alhaji Shehu Dikko, Kyari said NNPCL was ready to be part of the initiative to revamp the nation’s football.
“NNPCL 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,” the GCEO stated.
He expressed delight that NNPCL was identified as a critical partner in the journey of making the Nigerian football work again
He stressed that football was a tool of immense value that could bring untold benefits to the Nigerian economy and to the NNPCL as a company.
Speaking earlier, 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.
He emphasised that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has called for immediate action to revamp the game.
Dikko said the multiplier effects of football were enormous and could facilitate the revamping 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 NNPCL once had a football club, the NNPC FC, Warri, which played in the Division One of the then Nigeria National League (NNL) before it was disbanded in 1989.
