BY TONY UBANI
You’re buying medals, Niger alleges
Hosts of the on-going 17th National Sports Festival, Rivers yesterday increased its medals haul, ensuring that it is not contesting winning the Games with any other state. They are run-away winners even before end of the Games.
Below is the Medal table

Gold      Silver      Bronze

Rivers    78        35             44
Delta    42         46               45
Edo    26             14              21
Bayelsa    14     8                  16
A/Ibom    11    3                 16
Ondo    9            15             21
Ogun    9              11           26
Plateau    7        16             6
Benue    6            6           13
Imo    5              12           24
Abia    5           3               5
Lagos    4        8             14
C/R    4            7               9
FCT    5          7             8
Kano    4        5               3
Oyo    3          13           10
Kaduna    3    3          9

You’re buying medals, Niger alleges

The sucker punch Niger State could not unleash on their opponents in the rings here at the ongoing National Sports Festival, their Permanent Secretary in the ministry of Youth and Sports, John Samaha, is jabbing at winners.
And he is really jabbing hard, only that his action cannot win him or his state medals.

Niger State, as at the last medal table last night, was 26th and no where among the contenders.

Saha says that this is not because of the sports prowess of the winners but their capacity to buy medals.

“Some states are buying gold medals here, they are offering as much as N200,000 for each gold. We don’t have that amount to offer for gold and we have not won any. This is nonsense. The National Sports Festival is not what people think it is. This is not the right way to develop sports,” Samaha said here.

He pointed accusing fingers at Rivers, Lagos and Edo States. But he had no proof. Edo is even one of the states said to be poorly funded as governor Adams Oshiohmole is among those exploring other avenues of developing sports other than the sports festival.

Ibim Semenitari, the Commissioner of Information in Rivers State would not keep quiet while somebody tries to rubbish the efforts of the state both in providing good facilities and preparing their athletes for victory.

“The man (John Samaha) is crying wold where there’s none,” she said, adding “people should learn to win with magnanimity and lose with equanimity. Rivers did not and does not intend to buy medals to win at all cost.

It never came across any imagination. We stand for fairness and Niger State should learn to be sports-manly and not bad losers.”