Most of the times when golfers take to the field, they are given most of the praise for their achievements, their faithful caddies are hardly, if at all, remembered. However, Mr and Mrs Cecil Ezem Osakwe has taken ‘the giant step’ in honouring the caddies at the IBB International Golf and Country Club Abuja with the construction of a befitting and modern Caddy Shed.
The caddy shed which is captioned under “Captain Cup 22 project” has given a new beautiful outlook to the green and 18-holes course golf club.
Handing over the shed to the new captain of the club, Dr Banjo Obaleye, in the presence of Board of Trustees (BOT) members, members of the club and caddies, Cecil Osakwe, said he was motivated to execute the project for the fact that is for the benefit of the caddies who are lower level people in golf community.
“The caddies are usually the lower level of golfers but they are ones who make it happen, help us carry our golf bags and cards. So, when I was giving this project, the fact that it is going for people at this level was my strong motivation,” Osakwe revealed.
Osakwe, who is a Harvard trained legal luminary and consummate real estate developer, believed the maintenance of the edifice would not be a problem for the users due to the quality of the work.
“First, I’m a builder, but a lawyer by profession and I’m into real estate development. I like anything that has to do with me to have it stand out. I won’t go into how much it cost, but the good thing is that because of the quality of the work, it will not be easy to damage it no matter how irresponsible you are,” he stated.
Chairman, BOT of the club, General I.B.M. Haruna (rtd), showered encomium on Mr and Mrs Osakwe for showing love and focusing on the lower level people in the society who he said are in the majority but often forgotten.
“Glory be to God, the king and the maker who have created us, take care of us, sees us to places and those who see our need He uses them to provide those needs. We are grateful to them and we thank God that we are making progress.
“It is difficult to think about the wellbeing of the lower people in the society who are often the majority.
“The caddies are the ones who carry our bags and clubs, and are aware of the challenges and obstacles of the golf course being played, along with the best strategy in playing it. So, I thank the past captain and Osakwe for thinking toward the comfort of the lower level in our means and building this for them,” General Haruna said.
The club captain, Dr Banjo Obaleye and past captain, Senator Emmanuel Anosike, thanked Mr and Mrs Osakwe for the honour done to the club.
“When you see a man of quality you see his hand work. When he made up his mind to do this, he went to JP to construct this. You can see the roof and floor well laned Thank you Mr and Mrs Osakwe, Obaleye stated.
Senator Anosike whose tenure as captain of the club the project was initiated said the caddies are one of the biggest representatives of the different job clusters that golf creates and their role is strategic. “Our goal was to communicate to them that we care about them by virtue of being around the game and we thank Osakwe for perfectly demonstrating our love and care to the caddies..
