The concerted effort of Nigeria Taekwondo Federation (NTF) in regenerating the standard of taekwondo to world class status has not gone unnoticed, as a Ghanaian martial artist, Agbozo Augustus, has praised the federation for setting the pace in West Africa.
Augustus, who won a gold medal in the Male Individual Poomsae event in the recent Lagos International Taekwondo Classics, at the Teslim Balogun Stadium, said Ghana Taekwondo Federation (GTF) could not match the high standard Nigeria had set in the game of taekwondo, a move which placed Nigeria above other West African nations.
He noted that Nigeria won a total of four gold, two silver and four bronze medals at the Sixth Commonwealth Taekwondo Championship in Edinburg, Scotland, in 2014 because the NTF executive members were united and focused on taking the sport to greater heights.
While noting that Nigeria has a bright future in the sport, Augustus explained that GTF must have a bilaterial relationship with NTF in order to acquire skills on how best to reform the sport to gain continental and global recognition in the area of funding, equipment and competition.
The athlete, who is optimistic that Nigeria would dominate the taekwondo event at the All African Games (AAG) in Congo Brazaville, said Nigeria had a unique strength in poomsae, sparring and taekwondo for the power which made the country to be a force to reckon with in the world, stressing that Nigeria would continue to dominate Africa in taekwondo because the federation always delves into lucrative ideas to upgrade the sport.
The self-sponsored athlete appealed to GTF to motivate its athletes and encourage corporate bodies to sponsor its best athletes to participate in regular international competitions, adding that Ghana can only boast of David Ajeteh and Daniella, who are based in United States of America, unlike NTF that has world-rated and exposed athletes.