The Minister of Youth and Sports Development, Barr Solomon Dalung yesterday stated that President Muhammadu Buhari was happy with the performance of Team Nigeria at the just concluded Rio 2016 Olympic Games.
Dalung made the disclosure after a meeting in which he briefed President Buhari on the outcome of Nigeria’s participation at the quadrennial Games, stating that the nation’s number one citizen commended Team Nigeria for doing the country proud, Vanguard reports.
“All I did was to brief the President on our performance, the challenges we had, the progress we made because in 2016 Nigeria was celebrated,” said Dalung.
“Two Nigerian athletes, Aruna Quadri and Chierika Ukogu, were recognized internationally in Rio. That happening to Nigeria is an achievement.
“He (President Buhari) also appreciated our performance and thanked us for doing the country proud and keeping the flag flying. He challenged us to do more for the country to move sports forward.”
The minister also mentioned that he pleaded with President Buhari to host the contingent despite winning a lone bronze medal in football, and coming 78th on the medals table.
“We need to go back to the grass-roots and groom talents for future competitions,” he said, stressing that he isn’t culpable for the poor showing as such “abysmal performance” pre-dates his appointment.
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