Stallion NMN, the official representative of Nissan in Nigeria, has completed the hosting of the International Cricket Council (ICC) World Cup trophy tour in Nigeria together 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 John Eno, Minister of Sports Development and Uyi Akpata, president of the Nigeria Cricket Federation as well as the officials from the ICC, Pakistani and Indian diplomats.
The cup also travelled to the TBS Cricket Ground in Lagos, allowing thousands of fans to see the cup, many for the first time in their lives.
The cup’s final appearance was at a VIP cocktail function at the Nissan Showroom on Victoria Island, Lagos attended by Mahesh Vaswani, managing director of Stallion Group, South African and Indian diplomats as well as officials from the ICC and the NCF.
Amit Sharma, general manager of Stallion NMN, said the Japanese automotive giant had been actively involved in sponsoring international sports for many years and cricket for the last eight years.
“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.
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Many of those sports stars have become Nissan brand ambassadors including Naomi Osaka, a tennis star; Mitchell Johnson, Australian cricketers; Mel Jones and South Africans Dale Steyn and Kagiso Rabada.
Nissan had been pushing boundaries for the last 90 years, ever since the company 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.
“We introduce our innovations onto the track and test them under the toughest conditions. 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,” he said.
Nissan, he said, is committed to Africa and 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.
“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,” he said.
