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Nigeria's Minister of Youth and Sports, Solomon Dalung has insisted that the Sports Writers Association of Nigeria (SWAN) cannot fault his position on the achievements of Team Nigeria at the XXI Commonwealth Games.
Dalung said that SWAN statement is a cheap attempt at underplaying Team Nigeria’s noble outing at the games where they won 9 gold, 9 silver and 6 bronze medals.
The Sports Minister said it's on record that team nigeria set a new World record in Powerlifting and participated in Rhythmic Gymnastics for the first time besides personal and season's best records set by our worthy ambassadors because they were well camped and allowance paid.
The Minister maintained that any serious sports nation cannot afford to depend on the annual fiscal budget to prepare for international competitions such as the Olympics, World Cup, Commonwealth Games or the All Africa Games.
Dalung told SWAN to perform its duties as the watch dog of the society by pressurising the National Assembly to legislate for a special funding for sports.”
The Minister maintained that in 2014 we went to Glasgow with 116 athletes in 7 individual sports while in 2018 we participated with just 67 athletes in 10 sports including basketball which accounted for 12 players.
Dalung advised the leadership of the association to channel its energy into ensuring that the right things are done rather than being in a haste to criticize the federal government for personal reasons.
