Seyi Akanni
Sports Federations in the country should as a matter of urgency prioritize the welfarism of their athletes in order to curb the menace of 'talents flight', thereby loosing numerous talented athelets to foreign land.
The executive secretary of the Nigeria Olympic Committee (NOC), Chief Tunde Popoola made this comment today while responding to questions from members of State of Osun Sports Writers' Association of Nigeria (SWAN), at their Monthly Stakeholders Forum.
He noted that, attention should be given to athelets being the principal actors in any competitions and as such, should be given optimum considerations.
" In the NOC, we put the athletes first before anything. We want to always give them the best preparations ahead of competitions.
" We should concentrate more on the welfare of athletes than the officials. Am not saying the officials are not important.
"It's not easy for Nigerian athletes to make it to the top and kudos must be given to few ones that have done the country proud in the past and those that are still doing it presently for their optimism.
"British government used to invest a million pounds in each of their Olympians, if you ask me, how much do we invest in our athelets?". He quizzed.
He further charged those at the helms of affairs to ensure that adequate preparations are made for every tournament Nigeria will participate in, the 'Mayegun' of Oke Ila assured that the Nigeria Olympics Committee has been fine tuning every arrangement that will facilitate the successful outing of Nigerian athletes at the forthcoming Olympics.
He concluded by calling on the government to at all time, provide the enabling environments for the teeming athletes to excel in their chosen career, not forgetting the maintenance of the existing sports facilities across the country.
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