NIGERIA has been accredited to participate in nine sports at the 2018 Commonwealth Games in Gold Coast, Australia. The Nigeria Olympic Committee, NOC, named the sports as Athletics, Boxing, Basketball, Table Tennis, Weightlifting and Wrestling. Others include Para-Athletics, Para-Power lifting and Para-Table Tennis.

Habu Gumel, president, NOC, who disclosed this at a press conference held at the SWAN Secretariat, National Stadium, Lagos, on Thursday, January 18, said: “Much as a lot still needs to be done, I must attest that all is set for yet another glorious outing for our contingent in Gold Coast, Australia.”

Gumel said Team Nigeria athletes were camping in Abuja, Lagos and Port Harcourt with the plan of having the final camp in Australia before the Games begin. “With this plan in place, we will be returning from Gold Coast with far better results at the Commonwealth Games than previously,” he said.

The NOC president also spoke on the Nigeria House Project in Gold Coast, saying that ”it is our intention to take advantage of every opportunity to showcase the diversity of Nigerian culture, values and investment platforms, through the hospitality project of the Nigeria House in Gold Coast.”

He said that already a team of promoters and consultants were working on a template of setting up a Nigeria hospitality foyer at the Games. Gumel also spoke on Nigeria’s participation in the forthcoming Winter Olympics in PyeongChang, South Korea, the African Youth Games in Algeria and the Youth Olympics in Argentina later in the year.

Meanwhile, the NOC in collaboration with the Commonwealth Games Federation has secured training scholarships for 10 Nigerian athletes to support their preparations for the Commonwealth Games in Gold Coast. The athletes include Ese Brume, Praise Idamadudu and Oluwatobi Amusan. Others are Caroline Linus, Loveline Adaora Obiji, Chinyere Silver Fidelis, Paul Kehinde, Abdul Azeez Ibrahim, Aruna Quadri and Blessing Oborodudu.

Gumel stated that the scholarships became operational since October 2016 and would run until 2018. Similarly, he said the NOC had applied for the next phase of Olympic training scholarships for another 15 elite athletes to support their training and preparations for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games.

–   Jan. 16, 2018 @ 16:53 GMT