Speaking when the Ministry of Youth and Sports handed over the Nigerian contingent to the National Olympic Committee (NOC), President Buhari, who was represented by the Secretary to the Federal Government, said the country would be proud of them even if they failed to win any medal, rather than when they win medals that would be stripped off because of drug use.
President Buhari promised to adequately take care of their welfare but charged them to strive towards gunning for the top of the medals table.
“Let me assure you that the Federal Government is fully committed to our delegation’s successful participation in the African Games and will ensure that the welfare of the team is adequately taken care of.
“I want to charge all athletes and team officials going to the Games to be worthy ambassadors of our great country, both on the field of play and outside the sports arena.
“I, therefore, urge you to keep the integrity of our nation intact by competing for clean and fair devoid of any form of doping at the African games,” he said
Also speaking at the event, permanent secretary at the Ministry of Youth and Sports, Adesola Oludare expressed absolute confidence in the ability of the athletes to represent the country well at the Games, noting that the selected athletes had gone through very thorough training programmes to get to this level.
In his reaction, NOC President, Habu Gumel noted this is the first time the Africa Games would be used as the qualifier for the Olympics, stressing that it was an opportunity for the athletes to give their best not only to win medals but also qualify for the Tokyo Olympics.
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