Harp Larger, a Guinness Nigeria brand, has announced a partnership with the 18th National Sports Festival, EKO 2012. The partnership was unveiled at a formal signing of the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between EKO 2012 and Guinness Nigeria, at the organization’s head quarters in Oba Akran in Lagos recently.
Speaking at the signing, Mr Seni Adetu, Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer, Guinness Nigeria Plc said the partnership is one that will foster friendship and camaraderie throughout the games. “We are delighted to work with the Lagos state government towards the upcoming festival. We all know that Harp Lager is ’Best Enjoyed with Friends’ and so for us this partnership is one that will help push that message to Lagosians and Nigerians. We want to identify with the message of the festival ‘ignite the spirit of friendship’ and we believe Harp is best placed to drive that message home for us.”
Signing the MoU on behalf of the state government, Chief Molade Okoya-Thomas, Chairman, Marketing and Sponsorship Sub-committee, expressed gratitude to Guinness Nigeria Plc, makers of Harp Lager, for their support to the Local Organizing Committee and the Lagos State government. “This is indeed a great partnership we have gone into with Harp. It is particularly exciting because we are staging the first ever private sector driven sports festival. This partnership will enable us deliver on the objectives of the event which include the promotion of mass participation in sports from the grassroots level throughout the country and identification of talents for further development.”
The Secretary-General, Local Organising Committee for the festival, Dr. Kweku Tandoh, lauded the company for showing interest in the festival, saying, it was in tandem with the resolve of the Lagos State government to stage a public-private sector fiesta that will set the bar for other states in the Federation. “We are glad that Guinness Nigeria through its world-renowned brand, Harp Lager, has decided to partner the LOC and the state to ensure that we stage a successful fiesta and we hope other corporate bodies will also come on board as the kick off of the games gets closer.”
Guinness Nigeria plc has over the years sponsored other sporting activities across the country such as the National Division One League Handball Championship, Benin Golf Tournament and Kaduna Polo Tournament. Guinness is also the official sponsor of the Nigerian Senior National team- The Super Eagles, and the jersey sponsor of Enyimba Football Club and Shooting Stars football club through Dubic Extra Lager.
The Eko 2012 Festival is billed to take place in Lagos from November 27th to December 9th and will parade participants for a total of 28 sporting categories