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By Moses Akaigwe
Kojo Motors Limited, on Saturday at the Meadow Football pitch in Lekki, Lagos, won the 2025 edition of Toyota Nigeria Inter-Dealer football competition by defeating Elizade Nigeria Limited 1- 0 in what spectators described as an energy-sapping encounter.
This is the first time that Kojo Motors is winning the coveted trophy in the company’s more than two decades as a flourishing Toyota dealer in NIgeria.
To get to the finals, Kojo Motors edged out R.T. Briscoe Plc’s team while Elizade Nigeria defeated Germaine team.
While the overall winners got rewarded with N3 million, the first runner-up went home with N2 million, and the third-placed team received N1.5 million as cash prizes.
The tournament was put on hold for a few years due to the outbreak of COVID-19 endemic.
The trophy handed over to
the fast expanding and frontline Toyota dealer in Nigeria by Chief Michael Ade. Ojo and assisted by Kunle Ade-Ojo, Chairman and Managing Director of Toyota Nigeria Limited, respectively, was the highpoint of the week-long Toyota Nigeria Limited (TNL) Inter-Dealer football competition among the registered accredited dealers of the Japanese nameplate across Nigeria.
Presenting the trophy to the team in the presence of visibly excited Ikenna Oguegbu, founder/Chairman of Kojo Motors Limited, Chief Ade. Ojo congratulated them for their victory while calling on other contestants to work harder in subsequent editions of the competition.
In his own remarks, Kunle Ade-Ojo, described the annual event as a corporate office strategy put in place by the Toyota brand franchisee to encourage inter-dealer bonding among the local distributors as well as its corporate and fleet buyers.
The Toyota Nigeria Limited Managing Director commended the fighting spirit and resilience displayed by all the teams that participated in the competition, saying that, in any contest or competition, there will always be losers and winners.
Commenting on how his team got to the final of the competition and eventually lifted the Toyota Cup, Stephen Ehiedu, Team Manager of Kojo Motors, declared that victory was achieved through hard work and discipline of the players throughout the period that competition lasted.
“Management of Kojo Motors ensured that all cash allowances were paid and other necessary incentives made available during the training and match days,” Ehiedu recalled.
Describing the road to getting to the final of the competition as very very tough, the Team Manager disclosed that, during the group stage, Kojo won the first two matches by beating Metropolitan Motors and Germain Motors 7-0 and 1-0 respectively, lost to Omoregie Motors, but still topped group B.
“Despite injury concerns on the bumpy journey to the hard earned victory, our players fought courageously to get to the semi finals, beating R. T. Briscoe Plc during penalty shootout after the game ended 1-1.
Ehiedu regretted that during the last competition in 2019 before it was suspended as a result of the pandemic, Kojo Motors team lost the third placed.
“Having qualified for the semi finals during that period, I was optimistic of getting to the finals, but something happened. Our captain at that time Adeyemi Agbomabinwon was injured and that was the end”.
He further said that the excitement that greeted the winning of the trophy by Kojo Motors was overwhelming. I can’t even explain the level of excitement. My Chairman was so happy, his wife and all Kojo staff, friends and families were not left out”.
While basking in the euphoria of the much celebrated, Ehiedu said that other areas of improvement are that the LOC need to introduce the award to the most valuable player (MVP) after every match played as well as changing the time of the game from the rainy season to dry season.
He also suggested that, if possible, the venue can be changed to allow spectators as supporters club and other activities that will make the games fun to watch..
