Ogun State Governor, Prince Dapo Abiodun, on Tuesday, hosted the World, Commonwealth and African 100 metres hurdles champion, Tobi Amusan, in his office at Oke-Mosan, Abeokuta, on Tuesday and named the amazon Ogun State Sports Ambassador.
According to a statement issued in Abeokuta by the Governor’s Chief Press Secretary, Kunle Somorin, the governor equally announced a cash reward of N5million and a house in Ijebu-Ode to the queen of the tracks.
Abiodun had on April 26, 2021 adopted Amusan, whose exploits were made known to the governor by the Minister of Youth and Sports Development, Mr Sunday Dare.
The governor described Amusan as a role model to the girl-child and a practical example of a truism that what a man can do, a woman can even do better.
“So, you will be our Sports Ambassador; I am happy that you said you are not from any other state. You are from Ogun and not from Lagos and you want to come back home. We also want to ensure that you come back home.
“We want to assure you that as you come back home, you have a home here in the state. So, in view of that, we are also going to be presenting to you a home in Ijebu-Ode.
“On top of that, we will be giving you a small token, we will be donating to you a sum of N5 million,” he said.
“Tobi has been able to succeed through a lot of discipline, hard work, persistence and a lot of faith in her ability.”
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Abiodun who noted that his administration is on course to give the Ijebu-Ode Stadium the necessary facelift it needs, said that the call by the star athlete to use the stadium to train whenever she is in the country would further prompt his administration to fast track the rehabilitation of the stadium.
“We are in the process of rehabilitating a few of our sport facilities, I have spoken to the Minister of Sports and a few other people, but, now that we have one of our own who is saying that I want to train in that stadium, that puts us under a lot of pressure to ensure we prioritize Ijebu-Ode stadium because we want you to come and be training in that stadium,” he added.
The governor who noted that youths can combine both sports with education without any disturbance, called on youths in the country to borrow a clue from the world champion, Amusan, who combined both, and is doing well for herself.
In her remarks, Amusan, 25, said: “All thanks to my governor for supporting me and I feel like the Federal Government can do the same when it comes to supporting athletes financially.”
