"I Never Expected Award As Big As OON" — Ese Brume

Ese Brume, Nigeria long jumper and one of the athletes awarded national honours and N200 million for Team Nigeria contingents to the 2022 Commonwealth Games and World Athletics championships, by President Muhammadu Buhari, has said she got more than she expected.

She said this at the 51st Session of the State House Briefing Organised by the Presidential Communications Media Team, where the Minister of Youth and Sports Development, Sunday Dare, provided key updates on the outcome of the Official presentation of the Nigerian Contingent to the 2022 Commonwealth Games to President Buhari.

Nigeria won a total of 35 medals, including 12 gold, 9 silver and 14 bronze at the just concluded Commonwealth games and claimed the best position amongst African nations.

A breakdown of the medals showed outstanding performance from multi-medalist Tobi Amusan (100m Women’s Hurdle and 4x100m Relay), Favour Ofili, Rosemary Chukwuma, Grace Nwokocha (4x100m Relay); Miesinnei Mercy Genesis (50 kg), Blessing Oborududu (57 kg) and Odunayo Adekuoroye (57kg) in Women’s Freestyle wrestling; as well as Adijat Adenike Olarinoye (55kg) and Rafiatu Folashade Lawal (59kg) in Women’s weightlifting.

Responding to a question on what inspired her, Brume said:”My inspiration is God.”

On how she felt about the honour done to them, she said: “That was amazing. To be honest, I was expecting something like MFR, but I got a double portion. I’m happy, I’m excited, thanks to the President.”

Meanwhile, Amusan, has explained why she cried at the World Championships in Oregon during the medal presentation ceremony.

Responding to a question on what was going through her mind while tears were rolling down her cheeks, she said: “So in regards to your question, pretty much that moment was more of a “finally” kind of moment, for the hard work and the sacrifices, the dedication, and mostly more of the setbacks, failure and, you know, defeats every now and then. So it was just a moment of relief pretty much.”

The Minister of Sports and National Development, Sunday Dare, noted that the award was the first in President Buhari’s administration in seven and half years and the highest given to any sports man or woman in the country.

He said: “Just as an aside. This president, since he came in seven and half years ago, has never given a National Award, he said he was not going to do it. But for the very first time in seven and a half years, he decided to give the National Award to our sportsmen and women. And we thank him most sincerely, and give them credit. If you also know, this is about the highest award ever given to a Nigerian Athlete, OON – Officer of the Order of the Niger. You can check it out. I think it’s about the highest any sportsman or woman has ever received. And that’s what Mr. President did to both Ese and Tobi and we’re grateful for that distinction.”

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