Ogun state governor, Abiodun commends sports minister

 Ogun State Governor, Mr. Dapo Abiodun (MFR) has commended  the Honourable Minister of Youth and Sports Development Mr Sunday Dare for  his innovative ideas resulting in  sustainable growth in the youth and Sports sector.

Speaking  when the Minister  paid him a courtesy  visit , Mr Abiodun commended the Minister for  Successfully  hosting  the Edo 2020 National Sports Festival despite  the cash crunch and other attending  pressure. “Your appointment as the Minister  of Youth and Sports is  well deserved  as we couldn’t have had a more energetic, knowledgeable, widely travelled and  experienced man  than you  holding this position”.

The Governor used the occasion  of the Minister’s  visit to adopt Nigerian  100m Hurdler  Tobi Amusan , thereby brightening  the propect of her  winning  medal at the Tokyo  2020  Olympics.

 The Adopt a- Talent   initiative  has seen State Governors, individuals  and  corporate bodies  adopt some Olympics- bound athletes  to support  their   preparations  for the Olympics. The initiative  was halted by  the outbreak of covid-19 pandemic last year.  Mr Abiodun said  he decided to adopt Amusan not just because she is an Indigine of Ogun State, but because she  is a symbol of  the Nigerian  spirit of  talent and hardwork.

Amusan made her  mark  at the big stage by  winning silver in the African  Youth Championships in 2013, capped it with a  Gold medal  at the  2015 African  Junior Atheletics  Championship in Addis  Ababa, Ethiopia, emerged  Commonwealth  champion in 2018  African  Champion in 2019. She is a two time African  Champion.

She was ranked 4th in the World following  her feat at the World championships  in  *Doha* in 2019.

The money would be paid directly  into the athlete’s  account to fund her preparations  for the Olympics.

In his response, the Minister  reiterated his commitment to youth development, while  commending  the Executive Governor for keying into youth and sports development  agenda.  He lauded the efforts put into the  Digital Hub launched in the  state few weeks ago as well as  the Youth -based Agriculture programmes.