President Goodluck Jonathan on Wednesday tasked the Federal Ministries of Sports and Finance to give adequate support to sporting activities, to enable the country to achieve an outstanding performance at the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
Jonathan gave the directive at the Council Chamber of the Presidential Villa, Abuja, where he was presented with the medals won by Blessing Okagbare at the 2013 World Athletics Championships in Moscow.
At the championships, Okagbare won the silver medal in the long jump with a leap of 6.99 metres, placed third in the Women’s 200m race and sixth in the 100m final, with a time of 11.04 secs.
As a show of appreciation, President Jonathan said Blessing and her coach, Daniel Esebinimo, would be given national honours.
The President also announced cash rewards of N3 million to the athlete and N3.5 million for her coach.
“Nigeria has been known as a sporting nation, but for sometime now, we have receded, but we are lucky that we are building up again.
“I believe that with a young lady like Blessing Okagbare, Nigeria will get back to where it belongs and even go further.
“We have taken a decision that in the next Olympics, we must get medals, gold medals.
“The immediate-past Olympics that we could not get any medal, except at the Paralympics that we are able to shine, was a bad story.
“I have challenged the Minister of Sports and of course, the Finance Ministry to do all what they can to make sure that we support that sector so that our young men and women will do our country proud,’’ he said.
The President congratulated Okagbare and said that the occasion was a celebration of success, dedication and patriotism.
Minister of Sports, Bolaji Abdullahi, said the recent sporting achievements recorded by the country were as a result of Jonathan’s focused leadership.
The Minister said in athletics, football and weightlifting, Nigeria has become the number one nation in Africa.
“Never in the history of African athletics has a nation been a winner of the Senior, Junior and Youth Championships at the same time.
“Nigeria has won the whole three in the last two years; first, we won the Senior Athletics Championships in Port-Novo.
“This was followed by the inaugural Youth Championships, which we won in Warri, Delta State and the just-concluded Junior Championships in Mauritius, which we also won.
“These could not have been possible without the transformative and unprecedented leadership and support that the Sports Sector has enjoyed under your leadership.
Abdullahi said the performance of Okagbare at the Moscow Championships had broken the 14-year jinx of failure to mount the podium at the IAAF World Championships.
In an interview with State House correspondents, Delta State Governor, Dr Emmanuel Uduaghan, said he was happy because the state was taking the lead in international sporting events.
He said the feat was due to seriousness and the interest the state government had taken in sports, over the years.
Okagbare, 19, a long jump and triple jumper, as well as a sprinter, who hails from Delta State, thanked the President and Gov. Uduaghan for their recognition and support.
She noted that there was no magic in sports, saying that success was achieved through hard work and support from relevant authorities.
Okagbare said that to succeed, athletes should be mentally fit and also encourage other upcoming athletes to be focused and to believe in themselves.
Present at the event were, a member of the International Olympic Committee, Mr Abu Gumel; a former African track queen, Mary Onyali; senior officials from the sports sector and members of Okagbare’s family.
