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Minister for Youth and Sports Development Sunday Dare |
The winning team, comprised of Johnson Nnamani, Imaobong Nse
Uko, Opeyemi Oke, and Bamidele Ajayi, set a 3:19.70 African and Championship
record to become the first winners of the event at the championship.
It was also Nigeria’s first medal in the championship which
began on Wednesday in Kenya.
The delighted Sports Minister advised the athletics body to
take the victory as a springboard in restoring the country’s past glory.
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The quartet of Johnson Nnamani, Imaobong Nse Uko, Opeyemi Oke, and Bamidele Ajayi |
The medal is also Nigeria’s first relay gold medal in the
championship and Mr. Dare is optimistic that the dominance in “our area of
strength” had just begun.
“I remember how dominant we were in the early years of the
championship when we dominated the sprint and quarter-mile events. I still
vividly recall how Tina Iheagwan, Falilat Ogunkoya, and Mary Onyali dominated
the 100m and 200m events at the inaugural edition of the championship in
Athens, Greece in 1986,” he further stated.
“I am calling on the AFN to ensure the athletes discovered
here are monitored and given the necessary encouragement to make them follow in
the footsteps of their predecessors like Ogunkoya, Onyali, Ese Brume, Chioma
Ajunwa, and Blessing Okagbare who grew to become individual Olympic medallists
for Nigeria.”