The Managing Director of United Nigeria Airlines, Osita Okonkwo (Middle) and the President of Ndigboamaka Traders Association, Chinedu Ukatu, handing over the cup to the Ojo Alaba International Main Market (Olojo Drive FC) at the finals on Saturday.
The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) football team beat the Ndigboamaka All Stars 1-0 in the novelty match that opened the grand finale of the United Nigeria Airlines Ndigboamaka Traders Cup, held at the Legacy Pitch of the National Stadium on Saturday in Lagos. The result set the tone for a day that ended with Ojo Alaba International Main Market (Olojo Drive FC) winning the main trophy on penalties.
Speaking on the reason for supporting the football tournament, the Managing Director of United Nigeria Airlines, Mazi Osita Okonkwo, said this is the second year UNA has supported the tournament which brings together young men from the association’s 54 member markets across Lagos State.
Mazi Okonkwo said the major reason for the sponsorship is UNA’s mission to unite people across the country and continent and the tournament fits that goal. He said the second reason is that sports delivers social, economic and health benefits.
He also said United Nigeria exists to fly people, and that its sponsorship is meant to show members the practical benefits of air travel and encourage them to fly more often.
Okonkwo revealed that as a way of helping SME’s to thrive, United Nigeria Airlines offered a special travel package for association members. The package is designed to help traders move their goods more easily.
The airline currently serves 16 destinations in Nigeria, and Okonkwo said that number is growing. He said the long-term aim is for every part of the country to be connected to every other, so that traders and businesses would not be confined to a part of the country. He said the country is large and rich enough that Nigerians should not have to look elsewhere for opportunities, and argued that connecting regions would help unite businesses, cultures and people.
He said United Nigeria Airlines loves to partner with groups whose members share its commitment to growth and to cross-regional connection. Mazi Okonkwo thanked the association for choosing UNA as its partner and said he expects the relationship to deepen.
While speaking, the President of Ndigboamaka Traders Association, Chinedu Ukatu, described the tournament as a unity competition. He said its aim is to bring traders together beyond the market, so that they compete on the pitch rather than quarrel.
Ukatu said this is the third edition and that the first edition was sponsored by United Nigeria Airlines. He said the tournament will continue regardless of changes in its leadership, because the association itself is meant to outlast its members. He also said organisers want to take the competition beyond Lagos to traders in other states, and eventually to a larger “5.0” edition.
Ukatu said players would receive cash prizes and the association also plans to recommend standout players for sponsorship by football clubs, since trading may not be their long-term career.
The tournament started with the third place match between Computer Village FC Vs Cooling Parts Dealers Association (COPDAS FC). The match was decided by a penalty shootout which COPDAS won after a 1-1 draw.
The second match was the novelty match between the Ndigboamaka All Stars and the Nigeria Customs Service football team which ended 1-0 in favour of the NCS.
The final match which was played between United Allied Spare Parts Dealers Association (UASPDA) FC and Ojo Alaba International Main Market (Olojo Drive FC) which ended in a 2-2 draw. The match went to a penalty shootout and Olojo Drive won the cup, and UASPDA took silver.
Reacring to the tournament, the Controller General of the Nigeria Customs Service, Adewale Adeniyi, who was represented by the Deputy Controller (Admin) Federal Operations Unit Zone A, Timothy Worusen, said the NCS exists to facilitate legitimate trade and that traders can visit any customs command for guidance on what they may or may not bring in. He added that the service works closely with other agencies, handing over seized arms and munitions to the police, drugs to the relevant authorities, and food-related cases to a regulatory agency.
He also celebrated the customs team’s novelty-match win and said the service wants a closer relationship with traders, so that they feel they can approach customs with problems.
