Nigeria’s Minister of Youth and Sports, Sunday Dare has come out to say that Team Nigeria’s participation at Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games is the best in the last 13 years.

He recently revealed this via a statement, and Nigerians have been reacting.

According to him, the Nigerian athletes were super inspiring, and he accepts responsibility for the lapses recorded at the games.

He added that the athletes definitely committed so much effort and made such considerable personal sacrifice in order to represent our nation as best as they could.

His words, “Not wanting to add to the public distraction, I have deliberately waited until the end of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games before making any observations regarding the various reports on Nigeria’s participation in the quadrennial games.”

“This was out of respect for our athletes who had committed so much effort and made such considerable personal sacrifice in order to represent our nation as best as they could. Overall, we should be proud of Team Nigeria and the effort they made. The bottom line is that these games should always be about the athletes and the spirit of friendly competition and excellence the Olympics are meant to engender.
“Sadly, some people seem not to have embraced either the good cause of our national athletic pursuits or the collegial and noble spirit that the Olympics promote.”

“The rancour and confusion some people seem intent on sowing are terribly out of place given the impressive performance of our team and good spirit with which they performed. The Tokyo 2020 Olympics are now over, which means we can begin to honestly and objectively assess what was accomplished as well as what we must do to improve performance for future contests.”

“Nigeria succeeded with two (2) medals – a silver in wrestling won by Blessing Oborodudu and a bronze in long jump won by Ese Brume. Their performances were inspiring for they affirmed we can and should compete at the highest levels across the full range of sports events. Yes, we had wished and worked for more medals. But we must also put things in perspective. The medal outcome at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics stands as Nigeria’s best result in the last 13 years.”

“Moreover, the athletes of Team Nigeria did their nation proud. Many of them reached the finals of their respective sports and, competing with all they had, were in contention for medals until the final moment. Any one who saw their efforts would have nothing but the utmost respect for them, their coaches and all the technical staff that made Tokyo possible.”

“I have personally apologized to the affected athletes. Here and now, I personally apologize to all Nigerians for this ineligibility episode. The AFN has also taken responsibility and apologized to the athletes and to Nigerians.”

“I will not want to go into too much details on this issue because it is sub judice. Suffice it to say that the Ministry was not part of the agreement.”