By Victor Okoye
Hamid Abbo and Adekunbi Usman have emerged the winners of the 2024 IBB Past Captains/Past Lady Captains Special Appreciation Kitty held at the IBB International Golf and Country Club, Abuja.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the Special Appreciation Kitty organised by the IBB Ladies Golf Section had no fewer than 200 golfers participating and slugging it out at the event.
Abbo played 37 stable ford points to clinch the highest prize in the past Captain’s category, while Usman played 37 points to emerge the winner in the past lady Captain’s category.
An elated Usman who was a lady captain of the club in 2015 told newsmen that she was surprised as well and delighted to have won against all odds.
“Unbelievably! When I started this morning, I never knew that I was going to come out tops at the end.
“My first, second and third hole was good. But when I got to the fourth hole, it became a different thing, and I told myself that there was no need to feel any pressure.
“I chose rather to just enjoy the game and continue, and that was what took me through from hole four up to hole 18.
“So, I was so surprised to hear my name this night as the winner,” she said.
In the Auxiliary award category, D. Mamza won the prize for the longest drive ladies with a distance of 159 metres, while Adamu Salisu won the longest drive men with a distance of 252 metres.
Faridah Wada won the nearest the pin ladies prize with a distance of 8.8 feet on hole 12, while Bamidele Obiniyi won the nearest the pin prize for men with a distance of 3.1 feet.
Dame Julie Donli, the Lady Captain of the Club and host of the event spoke to newsmen on the sidelines of the tee-off ceremony.
Donli said the decision to celebrate the past Captains was borne out of the need to appreciate those who had made an impact and left an indelible mark in the club.
She said the Ladies Golf section Committee felt it was imperative to celebrate the past Captains and past Lady Captains of the club because it was a continum.
“We are building from where they stopped. There are alot of things that we learnt from them and they still give us alot of advice from time to time.
“When we are little bit confused about one or two things, we go to them and they are always there to guide and lead us.
“They tell us, ‘this is how we did it, yes you can improve upon it, you can think out of the box, but if you go this way, it will help you.’
“So, we felt that Captains come and go. There are some who made an impact while they were here and some of their impacts are still being sustained.
“People like that are very special to us and so we decided that it was time for us to celebrate our past captains and past lady captains and that was informed our decision,” Donli said.
She expressed her gratitude to all the past Captains and past Lady Captains, adding that she wished them well with good health, long life and prosperity.
Ibrahim Babayo, the Captain of the club said the idea behind the Kitty was to appreciate the past Captains and past Lady Captains for their selfless service to the club.
“As you know, any service rendered by any Executive member of this club is voluntary. There is no remuneration whatsoever for your services rendered to the club.
“So, this is our own little way of showing appreciation,” he said.
Babayo noted that the scheduling and hosting of the Kitty by the ladies section within the week of the Independence tournament has helped to add glamour to the tournament.
Mrs Bose Ngozi Onwuegbu, the Chairperson, Planning Committee, noted that this year’s Appreciation Kitty was the biggest and first of its kind ever in the history of the club.
“I am happy to have been saddled with the huge responsibility of chairing this unique and special event.
“It has been happening here but was usually held for only the past lady captains, but this year, the lady Captains of the club deemed it fit to appreciate both the past Captains and past Lady Captains of the club.
“As the Chairperson of this event, I am highly elated and give thanks to God for making this possible and blessing us with good weather.
“We also brought in the afro juju master himself in the person of Sir Shina Peters to thrill us with some of his beautiful, evergreen music and we thank God everyone enjoyed themselves and had fun,” she said.
NAN reports that special guests at the tee-off ceremony were Dr Magdalene Ajani, Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Interior, Mrs Folashade Joseph, MD/CEO of the Nigerian Agricultural Insurance Corporation (NAIC) and, Dr Aisha Achimugu, CEO Felak concept Ltd.
Others who performed the ceremonial Tee off were; Chief Mrs Ngozi Osuhor, Hamid Abbo who were past captains representing the oldest past captain and past lady captains of the club, the chairperson; Mrs Bose Onwuegbu, the
Captain ; Mr Ibrahim Babayo, the Lady Captain; Dame Julie Donli OON, the Competition secretary, Emem Thompson and Mr Osas Idahosa
The highlight of the event was the presentation of prizes to all the deserved winners in the different categories as well as the rendetion of lovely tunes by Sir Shina Peters, which made everyone dance filled with an atmosphere of fun and camaraderie
Chief Mrs Ngozi Osuhor took the vote of thanks on behalf of all the past captains and past lady captains.
Osuhor sincerely appreciated the great leadership of the lady Captain and her committed team in putting this wonderful event together for them.
A minute of silence was also observed for all the late past Captains.
NAN reports that a total of 26 past Captains and 24 past lady Captains were recognised and honoured for their various contributions towards the growth and development of the club.
The late captains of the club include Brig. Gen. John Shagaya, the Foundation Captain, Col. J.Y. Madaki (Rtd.), Dr. Sheriff Sanni, Chief Luke Okpuonu, and Mr. Andrew Millward.(NAN)