Team Nigeria’s athletes that won 47 gold, 33 silver and 41 bronze medals to help the country finish second on the medal table at the just concluded 13th African Games in Ghana will not be rewarded by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
Sports development minister, Senator John Owan Enoh, revealed this while briefing newsmen on Tuesday in Abuja on Team Nigeria’s achievements at the 13th Africa Games.
It has become a tradition in Nigeria for the President to host and honour the country’s athletes after excelling at any major international competition with President Tinubu also raising the bar recently by handsomely rewarded the senior men national football team, Super Eagles with the national honours award of Member of the Order of the Niger (MON), flats and plots of land in the Federal Capital Territory for finishing second at the just concluded Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) in Côte d’Ivoire.
But the sports minister insists there would be no such largesse for the 13th African Games medalists.
“There are no plans for the President to host the medal winning athletes, not necessary that the President don’t have time or the athletes under perform. We have done what we need to do by welcoming the athletes back to the country and have begun payments allowances and bonuses for winning medals to all the deserving ones.
“Mr President has unrivalled support for sports development since the commencement of his administration. Nigeria’s heroics and achievement at the games would not have been possible without his full support. Our sports lovig president spared no effort to ensure that our athletes were adequately funded in spite of the paucity of funds and competing national priorities,” Enoh said.
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