(http://fmi.gov.ng/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/makubolaji-300x224.jpg)Minister of Information with the Minister of Sports The Ministry of Sports has within the past two years of the transformation agenda of the President Goodluck put in place an unprecedented programmes of action which has improved the image of Nigeria within and outside, bringing about all round development in sports sector to a world class level.
The Minister of Sports MallamBolajiAbdulahi disclosed this while making his presentation at the 2013 Ministerial Platform, organized by the Federal Ministry of Information. He identified the key performance indicators of his as the record achievements in international sporting arena which enhanced the unity and pride of Nigerians.
Abdullahi disclosed that it was our "adherence to world class standards in sports administration that reflected in Nigeria's performance in international competitions. He said further that the new vision brought to bear in sports administration has also increased the number of Nigerians now participating in sports for recreation.
The Minister counted the achievement of Nigeria to include our atheletes' performance at the 2012 Senior Africa Athletics Championship in Port Novo, where the country emerged overall winner for the first time in 14 years, with 10 Gold, 6 Silver and 5 Bronze medals.
The Minister said,TEAM NIGERIA got to 6 finals and 8 semifinals of international athletics meets, with many of the athletes competing for the first time.
He informed that one of our female athletes ran at a personal best of 10.92 in 100 meters, a feat no Nigerian female athlete has ever done in the history of the Olympics.
Also, the Minister said, TEAM NIGERIA female boxer, defeated the world Number 2and got to the quarter-finals, losing out to the world's Number 1. "She also made history as the first Nigerian female to fight at the Olympic."
He went further to inform the audience that TEAM NIGERIA male Basketball team, D'Tigers for the first time in our nation's sporting history, qualified to represent Nigeria at the London 2012 Olympics, beating the African Champions, Tunisia in the first game.
At the London 2012 Paralympic Games, the Minister reported that Nigeria puts up a sterling performance, clinching6 Gold, 5 Silver, 1 Bronze. Besides above, the Minister said, at the 2012 Paralympic Games, Nigeria set three world records in power-lifting, posting our second best performance ever in the history of the Paralympic games.
Other areas of sports, where Nigeria has performed impressively well as reported by the Ministerinclude the 18th National Sports Festival,where it recorded the highest number of participants ever, in the history of the festival, consequently, 11,045 athletes and officials from all the 36 States and the FCT, participated.
The Minister further highlighted the achievement of the country during the World Chess Olympiad, Senior African Wrestling Championship, Senior African Weightlifting Championship, Women U-20 World Cup, Japan 2012, AFCON 2013, African Football Championships and the 1stJunior Africa U-17 Athletics Championship, where he said the country did extremely well in the last two years of Goodluck Jonathan's administration.
Via: Federal Ministry of Information (FMI) Nigeria