Stallion NMN Astonished Cricket Fans with World Cup Trophy Tour  

Bennett Oghifo

Stallion NMN, the official Nissan representative in Nigeria, has just completed hosting the Nigeria leg of the International Cricket Council (ICC)’s World Cup trophy tour in association with the Nigeria Cricket Federation (NCF).

The cup was displayed to the public on Tuesday 29 August at the Moshood Abiola National Stadium in Abuja at an event attended by federal minister of Sports Development Senator John Eno as well as the president of the Nigeria Cricket federation Uyi Akpata, officials from the ICC and Pakistani and Indian diplomats. The following day the cup travelled to the TBS Cricket Ground in Lagos, allowing thousands of fans to see the cup up close, many for the first time in their lives.

The cup’s final appearance was at a VIP cocktail function on the evening of Wednesday 30 August at the Nissan Showroom on Victoria Island, Lagos attended by Stallion Group managing director Mahesh Vaswani, South African and Indian diplomats as well as officials from the ICC and the NCF

Stallion NMN general manager Amit Sharma said the Japanese automotive giant had been actively involved in sponsoring international sport for many years and cricket for the last eight years, across all facets of the game.  

“Supporting sporting excellence across the globe; from cricket to soccer, athletics or basketball showcases the excellence of stars who excel in those sports, while sharing the excitement and excellence of our vehicles with the world,” Sharma said.

“Many of those sports stars have become Nissan brand ambassadors have included tennis star Naomi Osaka, Australian cricketers Mitchell Johnson and Mel Jones and South Africans Dale Steyn and Kagiso Rabada.”

Nissan had been pushing boundaries for the last 90 years, ever since the company was started, he said, and this was nowhere more visible than the company’s investment in Formula E where it was innovating to the benefit of its customers, he said.

“We introduce our innovations onto the track, test them under the toughest conditions imaginable. Some of these innovations have resulted in technology such as E-Force and E-Power, which are now part and parcel of our Qashqai and X-Trail models.”

Nissan, he said, was committed to Africa and to Nigeria, where it had been the first mover among the OEMs, when it signed a memorandum of agreement with the federal government in 2013 to help Nigeria establish a sustainable automotive industry.

“Nigeria has always been a key part of Nissan’s history and indeed our strategy going forward since this country is one of the top two economies in Africa.

“We have been pushing boundaries for the last 90 years when Nissan first began. Together Nissan and the ICC have been able to share the excitement of the game and our vehicles with cricket fans on every continent – and the world cup is the greatest possible showcase. We can’t wait for the day when the Nigerian cricket team is also competing for the ICC Cricket World Cup.”