Governor Emmanuel Uduaghan of
Delta State in Asaba honoured Delta-born Africa’s fastest woman,
Blessing Okagabare with a charge on politicians not to distract the athlete as
she prepares for the 2016 Olympics.
Speaking
during a state reception Asaba, Governor Uduaghan said those who desire to
appreciate Okagbare should do so quietly without politicizing her in other to
insulate her for the set goal of gold medals in the 2016 Olympics.
His
words: “All support for Blessing should be done privately and quietly, we
should insulate her from politics, she is a role model, she is not a political
model”, adding: that Okagbare is “a pride to Nigeria and a pride to us in Delta
State.”
According
to him, “her feat has shown that youths in the state have enormous potentials
for greatness which if harnessed positively will bring great successes and
positive changes to the state and the nation.”
Dr.
Uduaghan said that his administration was determined to produce gold winning
athletes for the country at the 2016 Olympic Games in Brazil and
announced a yearly training grant of 120,000 dollars for three years to
Miss Okagbare to support her preparation for the Olympics, reduce the
distractions that may be caused by the number of competitions she would partake
in before the Olympics Games in 2016.
He
also charged the State Sports Commission to identify 4 young potential athletes
capable of winning medals that would be nurtured and groomed to represent the
state and country in the 2016 Olymics Games in Brazil promising to give them
training grants for their preparations and exposure to international training
facilities.
Dr.
Uduaghan announced a cash gift of 2.5 million naira for Miss Blessing okagbare,
2 million naira each to Mr. Daniel Etsebiminor, the local coach that discovered
Blessing and Mr. Gabriel Okon, her Athletic Federation of Nigeria Coach as
well as 20,000 dollars to Mr. John Smith, her international coach.
In addition, the Governor
appointed Miss Okagbare the Youth Ambassador for the state, gave her a parcel
of land in Asaba and announced the naming of a stadium in the state after her.
The governor thanked President
Goodluck Jonathan for the honour done to Blessing Okagbare and commended the
team that have managed her thus far especially the local coach, Mr. Danie
Etsebiminor who discovered her.
Responding,
Blessing Okagbare thanked Governor Uduaghan for playing important roles in her
success story stating: “my career has grown from good to better but, my best is
yet to come.”
She
appealed to the Federal and State government to support athletes by developing
sports through funding and proper management explaining that “proper and
adequate funding especially training grants to athletes will make them prepare
properly for competitions and improve their performance.”
She
said that money spent on sports especially to support the training and
preparation of athletes in track and field would determine the amount of
laurels the country can win in competitions.
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