Following an announcement of reward package for athletes that represented Bayelsa state at the 2022 National Sports Festival held at Asaba, between November and December by Bayelsa state Governor, Senator Douye Diri, Oyo state athletes have raised their voices in appeal to Governor Seyi Makinde to follow suit and emulate his counterpart from South south.
Some athletes that spoke with newsmen at the Lekan Salami Sports Complex Adamasingba Ibadan on condition of anonymity lamented the poor state of their welfare, stressing that the rewards from government after good performance at the festivals is the only lifeline they relied on for survival.
“Unfortunately the government has not said anything officially to receive athletes that won 50 gold medals, 51 silver medals and 62 bronze medals, to clinch the fourth position at the competition, moving up two spots from the NSF, Edo 2021, medals table.
“We know our Governor likes sports and always cared for our welfare because he awarded the sum of N500,000 for each gold medal, N350, 000 for each silver medal and N250,000 for each bronze medal to athletes after Edo 2021 and we know he’s going to do better after Delta 2022 but we’ve been waiting in vain to hear from him”, said one of the medalist that does not want her name in print.
Speaking in the same vein, another athlete said the special athletes that represented Oyo State at the first edition of National Para Games tagged ‘Abuja 2022’, organized by the Federal Ministry of Youths and Sports Development are yet to get what the government promised them after the event that was held in March 2022.
The disabled athletes appealed to the Oyo State Governor, Engr. Seyi Makinde to fulfill the monetary pledge for their good performances because Team Oyo in their first appearance gave a good account of themselves after securing the second position by grabbing 24 gold medals, 15 silver and 21 bronze medals, totaling 60 medals behind Team Bayelsa the winner of the tournament.
It will be recalled that, the Commissioner for Youths and Sports, Seun Fakorede who on behalf of Governor received the contingents after their arrival at the government secretariat promised handsome cash rewards for their good representation of the Pace-setter State and their sterling performances.