The President of Nigeria Armwrestling Federation, Engineer Samuel Jackson has set a bold target of 20 gold medals for the country’s contingent in the muscle flexing sport at the next Africa Games.
Although it would be only the second time the Nigerian contingent will feature in the sport of muscled arms at the continental showpiece, Engineer Jackson stressed in an interview with Sports247 that the team already has great potential to achieve its lofty target.
He added, “The total medals available are 76 … that’s for gold, silver and bronze all together. The total gold medals on offer are 28, and we want to win 20 of them. We were fortunate to have 12 medals in the last Africa Games, which really helped Nigeria to be high on the medals table and to finish second over all.”
Jackson admitted he and all officials of Nigerian armwrestling were proud of their achievements at the last continental multiple-sports fiesta, as they saw a means of showing gratitude to everyone who supported their mission towards showcasing the best of armwrestling talent from the country.
The soft-spoken sports administrator continued: “We were proud of ourselves that we did that for Nigeria. We are happy that we did that, because Nigeria believed in us, and they were able to register us to do it. So, come Egypt 2027, we know the areas that we are strong. We know the areas where we have strength, and we know where we need to improve on.
That’s why we are having these competitions and programmes. Let it be known that Nigeria can do even better at any level of armwrestling.”
He concluded by calling for total support from all sectors of the country, to help the federation achieve its target of 20 gold medals at Egypt 2027 Africa Games, even as he thanked President Bola Ahmed Tinubu for motivating a new focus on sports promotions in the country.
“Let is be known, if Nigeria can believe more in us, they will see more than what they saw from us in Accra. We are very sure that we can come back from Egypt with a minimum of 20 gold medals. I am not talking about the total of sliver and bronze medals.
“Our target us 20 gold medals … and I can 100% tell you that the work has already started. I can identify those who will give us those medals, and I can identify those who will help us get there. That’s why I want to thank the National Sports Commission and the president of our country, His Excellency Bola Ahmed Tinubu, for everything he is doing,” Jackson stated.
