President Goodluck Jonathan By Duro Ikhazuagbe Ahead of the February 14 presidential election, top sports stars and personalities across the country have expressed faith in the transformation agenda of President Goodluck Jonathan especially with regards to the sector. These icons of Nigerian sports who converged on the National Stadium in Lagos at the weekend therefore called on members of the sports community and the public to support President Jonathan’s re-election bid. A communiqué was jointly signed by various segment leaders of the group comprising President of the Nigerian Olympians Association, Henry Amike; Sydney 2000 Olympic gold medalist, Enefiok Udo-Obong; Former Team Nigeria Captain and national long jump record holder, Yusuf Alli and ex internationals, Peter Rufai and Clement Temile. Others include, President General of the Nigerian Football Supporters Club, Dr. Rafiu Ladipo; National Coach in Powerlifting and Special Sports, Prince Are Feyisetan; Babatunde Popoola and Uche Ugwu of the Grassroots Coaches Association among others. “President Jonathan has demonstrated a unique commitment to the development of sports and has performed creditably well in the transformation of the sector in his first tenure as evidenced in his support and achievements recorded. “These achievements at continental and global championships were the fallout of the Presidential Retreat on Sports initiated by President Jonathan. This outstanding and robust motivational and reward system for performing and emerging sportsmen and women raised the bar for Nigerian sport. It remains the best in the annals of Athletes and Players’ welfare in the country,” stressed the communiqué. The group said they believe that a second term for Jonathan “is necessary for the continuity of the transformation and progress in Nigerian sports.” The group also resolved, particularly, to hold a commendation and mobilisation rally for Jonathan at a yet to be announced date ahead of the elections. Speaking further on the joint position of the sportsmen and women, Amike who is the national coordinator of the group explained: “First, it is important to state that we are a non-party group as we have members who belong to different political parties, but we are all on common ground on the need to support the re-election of President Jonathan. “Secondly, we are all Nigerians and we have a stake in the destiny of our nation. For us in sports, the sector has never enjoyed as much recognition, commitment, encouragement, motivation, support and rewards for performance as under President Jonathan. “We have recorded resurgence in the performance of our various sports teams in the African, Commonwealth and World Championships levels and we can see several ongoing reforms in youth development, elite and high performance development. Even the football league reforms is directed towards ensuring that footballers enjoy better pay and are accorded higher professional value in a more businesslike league management environment. Conveners of the group also include African track queen, Mary Onyali-Omagbemi; Olympic bronze medalist, Falilat Ogunkoya; Henry Nwosu; Coach Joe Erico; Jerry Okorodudu, Gabriel Okon, Thomas Aroko, Bernard Joman, Ado Maude, Lawrence Adegbeingbe, Olawale Shittu, Femi Emmanuel among other notable sports stars and veterans.
Posted on: Mon, 26 Jan 2015 03:02:35 +0000
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