The renowned boxer won Nigeria’s first medal at the Olympics when he won a bronze medal in Tokyo in 1964. The feat marked the beginning of exploits for Nigerian boxers at that stage, and opened the floodgates for future Nigerian Olympians to dream of standing on the podium at the biggest sporting event in the world.
And on Sunday, the glamorous Karis Awards showcased not only the excellence of the ‘golden’ Bronze Medal that ‘Omo Oloja’, as Maiyegun was known in his boxing days, brought home, but also highlighted the values embedded in the thought process that birthed the awards.
The Maiyegun family were full of praise for the recognition of the icon of their family, with the son of the boxer, who was present at the event stating that he is happy and satisfied that his father is being so honoured.
The highlight of the event came when the Minister of Sports, Sunday Dare declared that the award has opened his eyes to the need for the government to recognize past Olympians, and promised to immediately, on return to Abuja, set up the machinery that will go into the archives to unearth and find ways of honouring those who had brought fame to the nation at the Olympics.
Maiyegun is the third sports person to be honoured at the Karis Awards. Incidentally, the first sports person to receive the award was Hogan ‘Kid’ Bassey, the first Nigerian to win a World boxing title; he was posthumously honoured in 1998. In 2011 former Enugu Rangers and Green Eagles goalkeeper, Emmanu
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