Nigeria’s reigning king of the tracks, Seye Ogunlewe, has landed a brand endorsement deal with financial giant, United Bank for Africa.
Koye Sowemimo, the Head of Sports, Temple Management Company, in a statement on Tuesday in Lagos, reaffirmed the company’s commitment to ensuring that star athlete achieved his purpose to become a truly global champion.
Ogunlewe’s new deal is an icing-on-the-cake in a year he worked very hard to retain Nigeria’s national 100m title for the third successive year.
The statement said Ogunlewe, represented by the leading talent, TMC, said he was eager to be a better athlete and inspire young kids.
To actualise his new task, he teamed up with UBA Foundation to inspire school children at Victoria Island High School, Lagos on the Read Africa Initiative.
The foundation, which was launched in 2011, has been helping to rekindle the dwindling reading culture amongst African youths as they pursue their education.
The track and field champion alongside Bola Atta, the CEO of UBA Foundation, read excerpts of books and shared his experience as an athlete to inspire the children to become the best they could be.
Ogunlewe said: “I am delighted to be part of UBA Group Corporate Social Responsibility campaign, Read Africa.
“I believe every child should live his or her dream with the right balance of education and passion for what you like to do.
“I heard kids today say they want to be Doctors, Lawyers, Pilots. My message to them is work hard to accomplish anything.”
Ogunlewe is a professional sprinter and the reigning fastest man in Nigeria, after a record 10.12 secs in the men’s 100m final at the All Nigeria Championships in Sapele, Delta State.
His achievements include emerging as champion in the British University 100m (2014); he’s a two-time British University Indoor silver medalist (2011/2012); British University Indoor 60m champion (2014); and the Irish Indoor 60m champion (2012).
He is currently preparing for the 2017 World Championships, with sights set on the 2018 Commonwealth Games and Tokyo 2020 Olympics in Japan.
TMC is a full-service creative talent and event management company incorporated in Nigeria and operating in the Entertainment, Sports, Media and Art sectors.