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By Ebenezer Bajela.
Ogun State Governor, Dapo Abiodun, on Wednesday redeemed his financial pledge to the state’s athletes who won medals at the 20th National Sports Festival held in Delta State last December.
Team Ogun finished 10th on the medals table with 12 gold, 15 silver and 35 bronze medals, taking their total medal haul to 62.
Last December, the Governor hosted the state contingent to the NSF and announced a cash reward for the medallists.
At the event, Abiodun said the gold, silver and bronze medallists would receive N1m, N500,000 and N250,000 respectively, with the other members to take home N100,000 each.
The Governor on Wednesday fulfilled the promise with the presentation of dummy cheques to the athletes at the basketball court of the Alake Sports Centre in Ijeja, Ogun State.
Present at the award ceremony were Ogun State Commissioner for Youth and Sports, Dr. Oludare Kehinde, who made the presentation on behalf of Abiodun; Permanent Secretary, Ogun State Ministry of Youth and Sports, Dr. Qudus Yusuf; General Manager, Ogun State Sports Council, Folakemi Rotimi, as well as all the management members of both the Ministry of Youth and Sports and Ogun State Sports Council.
“Congratulations to you all, his Excellency is happy with your performances as well as your attitude at the NSF in Delta. You all made Ogun proud with your showmanship and he has also made the development of the sports council his top priorities,” Kehinde stated.
Gateway golfer, Owolabi Oljide, who secured both gold and silver at the festival, while speaking on behalf of all the medalists, said, “We want to show our appreciation to the Governor for making good his promise and honouring us. It is with great joy that I say thank you on behalf of my teammates and we hope to continue to make the state proud.”
Ogun State are the next hosts of the biennial sports festival in 2024.
