Tokyo 2020: Nigeria needs N14bn to prepare for Olympics -Dare

By George Aluo
Sports minister, Sunday Dare has disclosed that Nigeria would need a whooping N14bn to adequately prepare for next year’s Olympics Game in Tokyo.
Dare who spoke Monday night in Lagos while launching “the Adopt Campaign” said this informs why the sports ministry is wooing the corporate world to throw their weight behind government.
“To prepare for the Olympics, we need about N14bn and what we have in our budget is less than N2bn. This is why we want the corporate world to come in and support our quest to do well at the Olympics. Government can not do it alone,” Dare said.
The minister who is now the “Chief Marketing Officer” of the sports ministry said he is happy the efforts being made to get corporate Nigeria back sports is yielding dividends.
“As we speak we have secured the commitment of companies who are ready to fix the Abuja National Stadium as well as the National Stadium in Surulere Lagos. These facilities would in the next few months bounce back to life.”
The sports ministry’s Adoption Campaign also started on a good note as companies adopted some of the athletes Nigeria would be banking on for medals in Tokyo.
The Oversees based Adopted athletes are to get $20,000, while those at home would pocket $10,000 from the corporate bodies that adopted them.