Gov Abiodun Hosts Tobi  Amusan, Rewards Her with N5m, House 

James Sowole in Abeokuta

The Ogun State Governor, Prince Dapo Abiodun, yesterday hosted World, Commonwealth and African 100m Hurdles Champion, Oluwatobiloba Amusan and named her as the Ogun State Sport Ambassador.

According to the Governor’s Chief Press Secretary, Kunle Somorin, Abiodun equally announced a cash reward of N5million and a house gift in Ijebu-Ode.

The Ogun State governor had on April  26, 2021 adopted the star athlete as part of Sports Minister, Sunday Dare’s Adopt-an-Athlete Initiative ahead of the postponed Olympic Games in Tokyo, Japan.

Speaking further at the event which held at his Oke Mosan Office, Gov. Abiodun described  Tobi 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.”

He said, “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 five million Naira,” observed the Ogun Governor.

Abiodun who noted that his administration was on cause 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 (Chief Sunday Dare) and a few other people. But now that we have one of our own who is saying that she wants to train in that stadium, that puts us under a lot of pressure to ensure we prioritise the  Ijebu-Ode stadium because we want you to come and be training in that stadium,” the governor added.

He noted that the story of the World, Commonwealth and African Champion would further educate those who still look at the combination of sports and education as a waste of time.

In her remarks,  Tobi Amusan, while acknowledging the support of Governor Abiodun towards her success, called on the Federal Government to do more for athletes. “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.” 

Her coach, Abiola Onakoya, also noted that the world champion is already giving back to the society through an athletics development programme named Tobi Abiola Athletics Development in Ogun State.