Dare said: “I followed every moment of your competition. I was in Birmingham from the beginning till I had to leave for other official engagements. So many Nigerians followed you too. We are all so proud of what you achieved for Nigeria and yourselves.”
By Uzor Odigbo
Sports Minister Sunday Dare has assured members of the historic Team Nigeria contingent to the 2022 Commonwealth Games of a presidential reception.
Team Nigeria achieved its best performance ever in Birmingham since it started taking part in the Commonwealth Games in 1950, winning 12 gold, 9 silver and 14 bronze medals.
Speaking with Team Nigeria athletes on Monday, Dare praised them for bringing the country into global focus for positive reasons.
“I followed every moment of your competition. I was in Birmingham from the beginning till I had to leave for other official engagements. So many Nigerians followed you too. We are all so proud of what you achieved for Nigeria and yourselves.
“Mr President is also very proud of you and has approved that a presidential reception be held to honour you for the historic feat at Birmingham 2022.
“We will immediately start to plan for the reception and once we have tightened things up, we will announce the date, invite you over from your different bases and you will have that privilege of meet Mr President.
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“Nigeria will appreciate you for the great acts of sacrifice, patriotism and determination to excel that you all have demonstrated here whether you have a medal around your neck or not.”
Meanwhile, an oil company announced that it’s firm will give cash rewards to all Team Nigeria medallists at the 2022 Commonwealth Games.
Insisted that the company would match whatever cash reward was already in place for the athletes by the Federal Ministry of Youth and Sports Development.
This however, may imply that Gold medal winners will get another Five Thousand Dollars, Silver medal winners, Three Thousand Dollars and Bronze medal winners.