Gov. Abiodun lives up to N2.5m cash promise to Ogun athletes who participate in Gateway Games
Gov. Abiodun lives up to N2.5m cash promise to Ogun athletes who participate in Gateway Games
* Enugu will play host to 2026 edition.
Ogun State has begun attending to the disbursement of financial rewards to athletes who secured medals at the recently concluded 22nd National Sports Festival held in Abeokuta.
The payments which was according to Governor Dapo Abiodun’s earlier commitment to encourage and celebrate the athletes’ outstanding performances.
The 22nd NSF, tagged Gateway Games 2024, came to an end on Thursday, with Ogun State finishing second on the medals table behind perennial champions Delta State.
The hosts made a late surge from the third spot to displace Bayelsa State. Ogun finished the multi-sport event with 93 gold, one more than the third-placed Bayelsa.
Ogun State also recorded 65 silver and 80 bronze medals, and Governor Abiodun has already made the move to fulfil his promise to deserving athletes.
“He did it,” one of the medallists for Ogun State confirmed to our correspondent.
“Some have been paid already. I was told to send my account number for compilation and my coach promised to follow up.”
Before the start of the games, Governor Abiodun had promised a cash reward of N2.5m for each gold medallist, N1.5m for silver and N1m for bronze.
He also approved the sum of N50,000 for each of the athletes that represent the state at the sports festival.
The athletes were paid N50,000 on Wednesday, plus a festival allowance of N140,000 each, after they protested the delay at the games village at Babcock University, Ilishan-Remo.
The protest grounded other participants at the games village for over seven hours, forcing events on the penultimate day of the competition to start and run late.
Some of the events were just being concluded on Thursday, while the closing ceremony was ongoing at the MKO Abiola Sports Arena in Abeokuta, the state capital.
During his speech at the closing ceremony, Governor Abiodun hailed the athletes for their contributions to the success of the games.
“It has taken an entire state united in purpose to deliver an experience that our nation will not forget in a hurry.
“To our athletes, you are all champions, you have not only completed, you have inspired and embodied the true essence of sports where excellence meets honour and discipline meets grace.”
About 10,000 athletes from the 36 states of Nigeria, plus the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, and the Invited Junior Athletes competed for medals at the Gateway Games 2024.
At the end of the games, Delta State reigned supreme as the winners for the fifth consecutive time and ninth time overall.
Enugu State will host the next edition of the games in 2026.
