Habu Gumel: 10 Nigerian athletes benefiting from Commonwealth Games scholarship

Gumel told newsmen that the scholarship which started in 2016 would end in 2018.

Habu Gumel, President of the Nigeria Olympic Committee (NOC), on Thursday in Lagos said 10 Nigerian athletes have recently benefitted from the Commonwealth Games scholarship.

Gumel told newsmen that the scholarship which started in 2016 would end in 2018.

“The athletes include Ese Brume (athletics), Praise Idamadudu (athletics), Oluwatobi Amusan (athletics), Caroline Linus (boxing), Loveline Obiji (para-powerlifing) and Chinenye Fidelis (para-powerlifting).

“The rest are Paul Kehinde (para-powerlifting), Abdul-Azeez Ibrahim (para-powerlifting), Aruna Quadri (table-tennis) and Blessing Oborodudu (wrestling),’’ he said.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the NOC has also applied for the next phase of Olympic training scholarship.

“This will support some athletes for their training and preparations for the Tokyo 2020 Games,’’ the NOC president said.

Gumel said the NOC was collaborating with The Association of National Olympic Committees of Africa (ANOCA) to secure scholarships for 15 elites athletes for the Tokyo 2020 Olympics Games.

NAN reports that Nigerian athletes are already in camps preparing for the Commonwealth Games scheduled for the Gold Coast in Australia from April 4 to April 15.

Gumel confirmed that Nigeria has been accredited to participate in nine sports by the organisers of the 2018 Commonwealth Games.

The sports are athletics, boxing, basketball, table-tennis, weightlifting, wrestling, para-athletics, para-powerlifting and para-table tennis.

“I can confirm today that Nigeria has been accredited for participation in these nine sports.

“As much as a lot still needs to be done, I must attest that the stage is set for yet another glorious outing by our contingent in Gold Coast in April.

“In collaboration with our partners in sports, especially the Federal Ministry of Youths and Sports, as well as the various national federations concerned, the NOC has ensured that all deadlines established by the Games Organising Committee have been met.

“This include their accreditation and sport timelines, accommodation reservation and payment, appointment of Chef de Mission, meetings, visitations, Rate Card Logistics and other deadlines,’’ he said.

Gumel said while the camping of athletes was ongoing in Abuja, Lagos and Port Harcourt, the final phrase of the training camp has been scheduled for Australia ahead of the Games.

“With these and by the special grace of God, we will be returning from Gold Coast with a much better result than what we have ever had at previous Commonwealth Games,’’ he said.

The NOC president, however, said that there were some critical challenges relating to travels to Australia for the Games.

“I must highlight some critical challenges relating to travels for the Games, especially the issue of entry visas.

“It is important to let the public know that the Australian High Commission does not issue visas in Nigeria. Also, the NOC cannot influence that issuance of visas to intending visitors.

“All visas issues are handled in Pretoria, South Africa via online applications. Visitors intending to travel to Australia are therefore to visit the nearest visa agent (VFS Global) offices in Abuja or Lagos to submit their applications for entry visas.’’

He went on to add that Nigeria was concluding preparations for participation in the Winter Olympic Games scheduled for Pyeongchang in South Korea from Feb. 9 to Feb.25.

“We will also participate in the 3 African Youth Games (AYG) from July 19 to July 28 in Algiers, Algeria and the 3 Youth Olympic Games (YOG) in Buenos Aires, Argentina from Oct. 1 to Oct. 12.