Mrs Tope Alonge and Rev. Lawrence Nwachukwu emerged winners in ladies and men categories respectively at the Cancer Awareness Golf Tournament held over the weekend at the prestigious Ibadan Golf Club (IGC).
Mrs. Tope Alonge, a former Lady Captain of IGC and wife of the former Chief Medical Director of the University College Hospital (UCH) Prof. Temitope Alonge, playing handicap 26 recorded 101 gross over 75net to emerge top I the ladies category while Rev. Lawrence Nwachukwu with handicap 12 secured 80 gross over 68net to Mr. Akin Funmilayo and Fawaz Mohammed to the top prize in men’s category.
The initiator of the golf tournament Lizzy Afonja while making speech at the closing ceremony thanked some of the major sponsors of the event which included, Parakoyi Tunde Afolabi, former first lady of Oyo State, Chief Mrs. Olayinka Mutiat Ladoja for supporting the idea of instituting a golf tournament to raise awareness and enlighten golfers on how they can prevent the deadly ailment.
She also appreciated the efforts of the of the Vice captain of IGC, Tunji Oladosu and physicians which includes: Dr Ozonji Justin Paul, Dr Anozie Princwill, Dr Abdulsalam Ahmed, Dr Ola Oduwole, Dr Temitope Farombi and Alhaji Yusuf Issa for finding time to share their knowledge with golfers during an interactive session organised on the first
day of the event.
“Cancer causes mental sickness and depression. I didn’t have cancer but I was close to people that had this deadly disease and seeing them die gradually was very painful and a bitter experience. I want to plead with the government at all levels to please reduce the screening, mammogram and chemotherapy fees or even make it free at government hospitals for women to enable them to do the screening annually in government hospitals,” said Madam Afonja, the initiator.
The acting captain of IGC, Tunji Oladosu in his remark during the closing ceremony said “The rationale behind organizing this tournament is to use the game of golf as platform for creating, promote and developing cancer awareness in the public and emphasize the importance of early detection, all of which play a major role in the treatment of cancer and to encourage its prevention”.
