The 2nd Nigerian Oil and Gas Invitational Tournament 2022 was held on Sunday at the 18-hole IBB Golf and Country Club in Abuja.

Golfers from the sector and friends of the oil industry participated in the completion sponsored by the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board as part of the activities for this year’s Nigerian Oil and Gas Conference scheduled for the International Conference Centre in the nation’s capital.

The Executive Secretary of the NCDMB, Kesiye Wabote, said in an interview with journalists that the tournament marked the official commencement of the conference and warmed up the attendees. The conference would last between 3 and 7 July 2022.

He noted that many oil and gas practitioners were golfers, stressing that the competition was also intended to escalate the game of golf and make it much more popular among workers in the industry.

Wabote, who is also a golfer, said, “The whole idea is that we have the Nigerian Oil and Gas Conference (2022), which starts today (Sunday) and this golf tournament is to warm up all attendees to the conference.

“It’s a gathering of all oil and gas practitioners, operators and contractors and well-wishers as the case may be. So we start the conference with a golf tournament to warm up everybody. And the intent is to make sure that we also bring alive the game of golf, to make it popular among workers because they work hard.

“We want to encourage them to play golf to keep fit, so that’s the essence of the tournament.”

The NCDMB boss thanked all the golfers for their active participation and described the quality of play as fantastic, adding that the competition generated excitement and depended on friendship and collaborative spirit among the golfers.

Also speaking, the Ambassador of South Korea to Nigeria, Kim Young Chae, commended the Wabote-led board for organising the golf game, noting that the tournament was “a friendly gathering.”

He also described the IBB Golf Club as an attractive and beautiful facility which provides the right atmosphere and ambience for exercise through golf and friendship.

A professional golfer, Okey Igwe, emerged the winner of the gross trophy while Oladotun Isiaka won in the zero to 14 category as Joey Zazza won in the 15-28 category and C. Mohammed picked the runner-up position.

Also, Lamine Ahmed emerged the winner of the best net lady prize while Ann Abinuku picked the runner-up position just as Dennis Osubu came tops in the longest drive men category and Mary-Rose Obiorah won the auxiliary prize in the longest drive ladies.

Some of the winners, including Okey and Abinuku, expressed gratitude to the NCDMB for organising the tournament, adding that they were honoured by the victories and the prizes they had won.