IBB Members Plead for Reopening of the Golf Club

By Olawale Ajimotokan

Members of IBB International Golf and Country Club, Abuja have urged the federal government to ease the closure of the club out of fear for the spread of COVID-19.

Some golfers at the club lamented that the closure of the golf course is putting their lives at the risk of developing diabetes, hypertension and cardiovascular heart diseases a result of exposure to Vitamin D deficiency due to lack of regular sporting activities .

The 18- hole golf course in Abuja has been closed since March, when the federal government imposed a lockdown on the Ogun, Lagos states and the FCT, in response to the escalating cases of coronavirus in the country.

By virtue of the safety protocols imposed by the Presidential Task Force on COVID-19, sporting activities as well as bars, public parks, gyms, cinema and theatres have remained shut down in spite of measures to ease the lockdown and gradually restart the economy.

”We urge government to reopen the golf course and allow us to exercise and recreate at the club. Golf is a good source of Vitamin D and we are saying that lack of recreational activities for over three months now has placed us at risk for vitamin D deficiency with implication for our health and well being because we can no longer play golf in the sun,” declared a member of the club, Mr Abel Abia- Bassey.

Abia- Bassey also lamented that the unending closure has placed a burden before the club to ensure the golf club is well maintained while also paying the salaries of its workers for the past four months, even though it has not been generating revenue during the period.

Some members also could not rationalise why the club remains under lock despite that golf courses in Benin, Ibadan, Calabar, Uyo and Port Harcourt are open for the members to play golf in spite of cases of coronavirus in those cities.

The Club House of IBB Club was locked with no members in sight, when our correspondent visited the club yesterday.

However, it was observed that the fairways and the adjourning lawns were well maintained to prevent the golf course from becoming a habitat for snakes and other creepy creatures.

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