*Mangal, Crown claim UNICEF, Access Bank Cups
By; ALEX UANGBAOJE, Kaduna
United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), has reiterated its commitment to continue to support the Access Bank, UNICEF Charity Shield Polo Tournament in partnership with Fifth Chukker to help school children achieve their dreams.
Gerida Birukula, Chief of Field Office, UNICEF Kaduna, made this known in an interview on Sunday, at the final match of the UNICEF and Access Bank sponsored cups at the Fifth Chukker Polo Club and Resorts.
The UNICEF Cup was won by Mangal Cement, where it defeated MSR BUA with 6-5, while Crown Polo won Access Bank team by a slim margin of 10½ – 10 respectively.
The Access Bank, UNICEF Charity Shield is one of the most sought-after events on the African polo calendar, and is known for its gracious impact on and support to the Northern Nigerian community, especially, the underprivileged school children in Maraban Jos, a community hosting the Fifth Chukker Polo Resorts.
The Charity Shield Tournament which takes place every May or June, is solely sponsored by Access Bank and supports the intervention activities of UNICEF in Northern Nigeria.
The tournament sponsorship is geared towards supporting the UNICEF child education initiatives by raising funds to provide educational facilities and healthcare services to disadvantaged children.
According to Gerida, UNICEF has been into the partnership with Access Bank for 10 years now and that the partnership is meant to see how the children can achieve their dreams of becoming great in life.
“For the past 10 years we have been having this collaboration raising funds to support the school, and last year it happened and we were informed that the little amount of money that was raised has been able to support the school in operational cost, in arts, books and for paying some extra teachers.
“So we are very grateful for this support and we hope that it will continue to support the children. And as you can see, the children have a lot of dreams, some want to be doctors, lawyers, farmers, teachers, military, etc.
“We have been supporting with N10m and this year we also gave another N10m. So we hope this support will help their dreams come through”. The UNICEF Chief, said.
