By People’s Gazette
The athlete, who said that her eyes were on winning the Olympic Gold, also lambasted the Nigerian Government for not doing enough on time to keep athletes in the “competition and success” at international events, People’s Gazette reports.
Nigerian athlete and Commonwealth medalist, Patience George, has described her State of origin, Cross River State, as the most disappointing State in the country, saying the State provided no form of support to athletes.
The athlete, who said that her eyes were on winning the Olympic Gold, also lambasted the Nigerian Government for not doing enough on time to keep athletes in the “competition and success” at international events, People’s Gazette reports.
The female athlete, who took the sixth position in the last Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, stated this in Calabar.
George, who is currently the 400m titleholder in the National Sports Festival (NSF) with a personal best of 50:71 seconds said she remained optimistic about breaking the 48:54 seconds Africa record set by Namibia’s teenager, Christine Mboma.
She said, “All that I achieved thus far is mainly through personal efforts and nothing more. My State, Cross River, has been the most disappointing of all. There is no form of support coming from my State as regards my training and other logistics.
“As for the Federal Government, it is only when there is a major championship that some of us get to see and feel its presence. I feel Nigeria will do better if the government does not wait for competitions before remembering their athletes.”
The medalist, therefore, called on the governments to always ensure that they put the athletes in a competitive mood even without any competition in sight and attributed Nigeria’s inability to win a medal in the women’s 400m race to the absence of Imabong Uko in Birmingham.
She however applauded the Federal Government for supporting athletes at the just-concluded Commonwealth Games.
However, reacting to George’s comments, the Cross River Government denied that the State does not support athletes from the State.
The Chairman of the Cross River Sports Commission, Emmanuel Elom, said that Governor Ben Ayade’s government always made it a duty to support athletes from the State whenever the need arose.
The Commissioner said that athletes must notify the government in writing about competitions because there are processes for providing needed support.