The Nigeria Football Federation has felicitated with the Federal
Ministry of Youth and Sports Development and the person of the
Minister of Youth and Sports, Mr Sunday Dare on Nigeria’s outing at
the 32nd Olympics which ended in Tokyo, Japan few days ago.
Nigeria earned one silver and one bronze medals from the Games, with a
slew of promising performances as a number of athletes reached the
final of their events. For the first time since 1996, a Nigerian
athlete was in the final of the glamour event of the Games – the men’s
100m sprint. Young hurdler Oluwatobiloba Amusan narrowly missed
netting a medal as she finished fourth in the women’s high hurdles
final.
“The Nigeria contingent may not have returned with the harvest of
medals that many hoped for, but there are bright lights all around and
some brilliant individual performances that give hope for the next
Games in Paris. At the end of the day, the silver and bronze medals
earned in Tokyo make the just-ended Olympics Nigeria’s best outing in
21 years. That is commendable.
“The Sports Minister, in his personal capacity, and the Ministry of
Sports as a body worked their socks off. The Honourable Minister was
exemplary; he explained, encouraged and empathized with the athletes
as necessary and led the cheer at most of the venues where Nigerian
athletes competed.
“He is such a wonderful breath of fresh air from the immediate
Minister of Sports who rather constituted himself into a bulwalk and
divisive force against Nigerian athletes at the last Olympics in
Brazil. We do not wish to recall his inglorious remarks against the
football team when the team was camping in the USA. That football team
eventually ended up winning Team Nigeria’s only medal – a bronze – at
the Games.”
Pinnick was particularly delighted at the performance of
multi-talented Ese Brume, who won the women’s long jump: “I am happy
for Ese (Brume) because I played a role in her discovery and
nurturing. I am fulfilled at her career progression and I believe she
will be there in Paris in three years’ time to win the gold medal.
“I also pledge that our football teams will return to the Games in
three years’ time in Paris and compete favourably for the gold
medals.”
