NSITF Throws Weight Behind Professional Golf

The Nigeria Social Insurance Trust Fund (NSITF),  has shown support for professional golf development in the country by sponsoring the maiden Ikoyi Club’s Professional Development Competition in Lagos. 

The event is billed for Thursday, October 10th, 2024.

The Managing Director of the national scheme, Oluwaseun Mayomi, said that unlike the general perception, professional golfers fall squarely among the brackets that the NSITF is campaigning to have under its scheme.

“While we are very determined to live through the mandate that established the fund; the Employee Compensation Act, 2010 ACT 73 of 1993, we are still working at bringing more diligent citizens under the cover,” observed the NSITF managing director.

He said the discussions to engage more professional sportsmen through their respective bodies and shoulder their compensation regimen through the NSITF is an ongoing experiment in Nigeria, given the unique conditions under which different athletes were engaged.

“Ikoyi Club represents the bastion of sports administration in Nigeria and engages athletes of different classes and shapes. This maiden engagement with professional golf is part of our ongoing engagement with this class of Nigerian workers,” Mayomi further stressed.

Ikoyi Club engages some of the best professional golfers in the country and arguably has the biggest golf-playing footfall on the continent.

“Ikoyi is the most populated sports club on the continent and I think that is understated. So it practically is the biggest employer of most professional sportsmen anywhere. So there is no better place for NSITF to generate data for decision-making than here,” concludes the NSITF chief executive.

The maiden event will be a one-day event that will feature some of the top professionals in the country. It will feature Francis Epe and Sunday Olapade who were Nigeria’s number-one players at different times. Others are Ikemefune Vincent, Paul Patrick, Michael Balogun, and Matthew Lawrence among others.

The event is scheduled as an 18-hole strokeplay tournament for the pros with some invited club members playing alongside.