The Group Managing Director (GMD) of Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Mele Kyari, on Saturday said physical fitness was very crucial to workers’ well-being towards attainment of optimal performance.
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Kyari, while speaking after the closing ceremony of the 12th NNPC Sports Fiesta in Lagos, said the well-being of staff was of paramount interest to the organisation.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the fiesta which featured staff of NNPC from across the country was held at the Chevron Recreation Centre in Lagos.
The GMD, who commended the fiesta’s organisers, said the one week-long sports competition, was important to NNPC.
“We know the importance of sports activities in keeping the staff fit, hence the management will continue to support.
“NNPC is an organisation that believes more in the welfare of its staff. We can’t have staff deliver on their job except they are happy both mentally and physically.
“This competition gives us the opportunity to allow our staff to be involved in sports for fitness purposes and also have fun. It helps them to also relate among well.
“The staff have competed and achieved fitness. So, we have derived a lot of benefits from the competition and I am happy that the staff are excited about it.
“I am not surprised at Lagos winning the competition because I am also from Lagos,” he said.
Also, the corporation’s Group General Manager (GGM), Human Resources, Oyeyemi Ladipo, said the fiesta had lived up to expectations of providing fitness and staff bonding.
Ladipo said the competition was a prelude to the Oil and Gas Games.
“As for this 12th edition of the NNPC Sports Fiesta, tagged “Physical and Mental Fitness for Increased Productivity, we have seen a good organisation.
“We have it as the Avenue preparation for the National Oil and Gas Industry Games (NOGIG). It is for the individuals and teams to prepare ahead of the games.
“It is also an opportunity for us to network, although we cannot rule out the competitive part of it. It is also provided for us an avenue to have a good relationships with other staff across Nigeria.
“So, we can say that in terms of organisation this 2020 edition is the best ever,” she said.
Ladipo said the 2020 edition was also unique because the sportsmen and women were asked to produce medical fitness certificate before they were allowed to compete.
“For the past years, we did not ask for medical fitness certificate, but we have to ask all participants to provide it this year before they compete. That is an improvement over previous ones and it makes the games unique.
“This also means that we care for our staff’s welfare,” she said.
NAN reports that Team Lagos won the competition for the fourth time, while Team Abuja and Team Kaduna emerged second and third respectively.
The games featured 11 sports events: namely swimming, scrabble, pool ball, squash, chess, football, tennis, table tennis, basketball, athletics and golf.