In Nigeria’s highly competitive and tense corporate environment, leading fintech giant, SystemSpecs decided to spread some positive energy among corporates through an annual football tournament for professionals called the Remita Corporate Champions Cup (RC3).
The inter-company competition named after SystemSpecs’ most successful payment solution, Remita is bringing businesses from across the country together and fostering strong inter-firm relationships with a sport that by itself preaches the values of teamwork, focus and unity.
With their formidable line-ups, companies once again went head to head in a series of football matches during the fourth season of the Remita Corporate Champions Cup which ended on August 16, 2018. Friesland Campina emerged as Champions. The producers of Peak Milk beat FCMB 1:0 at the final to lift the RC3 Koenig Trophy. Once again, the team validated the power of Peak Milk in football like in the days of its popular Papilo ad which featured Kanu Nwankwo. Clinching the third position was Leadway Assurance, while First Bank came fourth.
Yearly, it has become a delight to see professionals ditch their suits for sportswear and their files for football; rolling in the lush green grass in hunt for goals and showing skills that often do not come to play in boardrooms. During the games this year, eclectic musical performances filled the air and a cheering crowd of students and industry counterparts lit up the YabaTech Sports Pavilion in Lagos, where it all went down.
SystemSpecs teamed up with MediaVision, a leading sports marketing and activations company, to promote what has now become the most anticipated bonding event in Nigeria’s corporate world. The goal is that businesses have the capacity and opportunity to engage and interact with each other outside regular work environments.
“With RC3, Nigerian corporates are mixing business with leisure. It is that one time when professionals, their friends and family take work matters off their minds. We hope to engender greater collaborations across Corporate Nigeria and by that very token achieve more successes that would engender greater innovations for the overall advancement of our beloved country,” The MD of SystemSpecs, John Obaro said during the 2018 season.
Not only does RC3 promote interactions in fun ways, it also encourages healthy living among those in the corporate world according to the Chief Operating Officer of MediaVision Limited, Jimmy Sogbesan. Healthy living is an aspect of life that often suffers the brunt of hard work, but with an atmosphere to unwind, professionals are expected to loosen up. Activities like the RC3, even though it excludes the CEOs from calling the shots, have good implications on productivity as well. Research has shown that such sporting activities boost the morale of career people whilst creating memories that linger through subsequent seasons.
Participating companies are usually winners and runners-up of matches within their respective industry games like Bankers Games, Insurance Games, FMCG Games, and Telecoms Games. This year, featured teams from Unilever, FCMB, 9Mobile and Credit Direct. Even though they all didn’t go past the quarterfinal, they put up a great show in their football matches. Last year, foremost telecommunications service provider, IHS emerged champions over online marketplace VConnect. This year, IHS lost out in the quarterfinal. Other previous winners include Skye Bank at the maiden edition in 2014 and Nestle in 2015.
The new RC3 trophy, a silver-plated cup with gold embellishments is called the ‘Koenig Trophy’, meaning ‘A Trophy for Kings’. According to the organisers, the special trophy will be retrieved each season and exchanged for a permanent replica. To retain the real trophy, a team will need to win the RC3 for three consecutive times.
Former Nigeria Super Eagles Goalkeeper, Peter Rufai fondly called Dodo Mayana, is the Tournament Ambassador. During a Tournament Ambassador Challenge at the 2018 closing ceremony, Peter Rufai was able to save some goals during a penalty shoot-out by officials. He also lauded SystemSpecs for giving an opportunity to professionals who would probably have considered professional football if they had to choose differently.
The Remita Cup though in its fourth year running, is very novel, and it shows that beyond offering modern payment solutions, SystemSpecs is committed to promoting collaboration in a way that promotes development in all areas.
