Shell, ‘oil-prince’, has won the Nigeria Oil and Gas Industry Games (NOGIG) for a record third time since the beginning of the biennial 30-year old competition.
The 17th edition of the week-long Nigeria Oil and Gas Industry Games which was held at the Teslim Balogun Stadium, Surulere, Lagos drew its curtains with Shell topping the medal table with 11 gold, 11 silver and eight bronze medals, leaving the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) and ExxonMobil in second and third places respectively.
The competition featured participation from 12 companies competing in football, squash, table tennis, lawn tennis, scrabble, chess, snooker, swimming, golf, basketball, 100 meters dash and 4×100 meters relay.
Speaking at the close of the event, Managing Director, Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria (SPDC) Ltd and Country Chair, Shell Companies in Nigeria, Osagie Okunbor commended the Shell team for an upbeat consecutive performance that has kept Shell atop the medal table for three years. “I’m excited at the performance of the team for making us proud,”.
“The games present a good opportunity for all of us in the oil and gas industry in Nigeria to be physically active and network in an atmosphere of healthy rivalry, and I commend Team Shell for the hard work and commitment which have earned them a top place at the medal table for three consecutive years,” Osagie added.
In closing the ceremony, the NNPC GMD, Maikanti Baru, chief host of the games spoke on the good sportsmanship displayed by athletes and expressed his hopes for a far better tournament in the coming years.
The General Manager, External Relations, Igo Weli, represented Shell at the event to receive the winner’s trophy from the NNPC GMD.
Shell Team-manager Alex Onumbu who is the also the vice chairman of the local organizing committee of the games thanked the management of Shell Nigeria for their immense support and also praised his team for a job well done in successfully bringing home more medals than any other team. “The amount of hard work and discipline that underpin our participation and victory can only be imagined. We want to pay tribute to our athletes, who in addition to their normal work, took the time and pains to train, compete and win. And of course, we also own a huge debt of gratitude to our management, because without their untiring support, we would have gone nowhere. This record victory is not just for Team Shell – it is for all of us!”.
