Bayelsa State Governor Douye Diri yesterday announced a reward package for the state’s sportsmen and women that participated in different competitions recently.
Blessing Oborududu, the Olympic silver medallist who also won gold in wrestling at the Commonwealth Games and sprinter Timma Godbless who won gold in 4×100 relay for Nigeria in the African Senior Athletics Championship in Mauritius , were among recipients of the governor’s gesture.
Others were teenage table tennis sensation, Samuel Boboye who won two gold medals for Nigeria in the Africa U-19 championship in Tunisia as well as Bayelsa Queens, winners of the African Female Champions League WAFU Zone B tournament in Yamoussoukro, Côte d’Ivoire.
Coaches of the teams were also rewarded.
Receiving the athletes and footballers inside the Executive Council chambers of the Government House in Yenagoa, Diri’s Chief Press Secretary, Daniel Alabrah, quoted the Governor in a statement as saying that the people of Bayelsa could hold their heads high because of the sterling performances of the sportsmen and women and urged them to continue on the path of success.
He noted that by their performance, they had placed Bayelsa prominently on the global map of sports, saying the state would reap rich rewards from their effort if they aimed for more success.
Diri assured the people that his administration would continue to play its part in supporting sportsmen and women to enable them to bring more laurels to the state.
He promised Bayelsa Queens that his government would do everything to ensure the team had a hitch-free participation in the Africa Female Champions League holding in Morocco.
He announced a reward of N2.5m for Commonwealth Games gold medallists, N1.5m for silver medallists while bronze medallists got N1m.
Similarly, coaches of gold-winning athletes got N2m each while their silver and bronze medal counterparts received N1m and N800, 000 respectively.
Non-medal participants at the games also got N300, 000 each.
African Athletics Championship gold medallist, Godbless, got N700, 000 while Boboye received N500, 000.
The governor also motivated Bayelsa Queens with N10m in addition to $1,000 each for the players and $3,000 for the three goals the team scored in a particular game.
In his remarks, Bayelsa State Commissioner for Youths and Sports Development Daniel Igali thanked the governor for his support for the development of sports in the state, saying it is largely responsible for the successes Bayelsa had had in recent times.
He said winning had become a culture in the state due to the level of motivation from the government and assured him that athletes would continue to do their best to make the state proud.