Bayelsa state governor, Seriake Dickson on Tuesday rewarded the Nigeria Wrestling Federation Team with the sum of N13.9 million naira for their outstanding performance at the just concluded Commonwealth Games in Gold Coast, Australia.
Dickson doled out the cash at the reception ceremony for the Gold Coast wrestling team in Yenegoa, Bayelsa state.
Each gold medalist got N1,500,000 (1.5 million Naira), silver medalist got N 1,000,000 (one million naira), while the bronze medalist got N 700,000 (Seven hundred thousand naira).
The wrestlers who failed to win a medal were not left out as they got 500,000 (five hundred thousand naira) while the coach crew got N 1,000,000 (one million naira) each.
In a chat with aclsports.com, the President of the Nigeria Wrestling Federation (NWF), Daniel Igali commended Governor Seriake Dickson for his unflinching support for wrestling in Nigeria.
Igali praised the governor for his contributions to efforts of reviving wrestling in the country and also his role in the battle to have wrestling back in the 2020 Olympic Games.
“The Bayelsa State governor has been supportive of the Nigeria Wrestling Federation,” Igali said.
He is concerned about wrestling because he was a former wrestler and his father was a foremost wrestler in Nigeria. He also knows the importance of wrestling to an Ijaw man.”
The Governor calls himself the governor of the Niger delta. All the medallist’s coincidentally are from the Niger delta”, he added.
Igali said, “This is a governor who travelled to Glasgow to cheer the wrestling team at the 2014 Commonwealth Games. He is our biggest supporter and we are happy for this gesture bestowed upon us today”.
The wrestling team won a total of eight medals, made up of three gold, two silver and three bronze.
