Chukwumerije rewards taekwondo team with N3.3m

The countrys taekwondo team to the Maputo 2011 All Africa Games had cause to smile on Wednesday in Abuja when Senator Uche Chukwumerije rewarded the team with N3.3m for their performance at the sports showpiece. The 16-man team won 10 medalstwo gold, one silver and seven bronze in Mozambique.For their feat in Maputo, gold medalists were rewarded with N500,000 each while silver medalists got N250,000. Bronze medalists received N150,000 while the two coaches of the team got N500, 000 each. Chukwumerijes sons, Perez and Chika, won gold and silver medals respectively at the AAG.The legislator expressed his passion for taekwondo at the reception and called on Nigerians to pay more attention to the sport, saying it would win more medals for the country at future competitions.Chukwumerije said, "It is now obvious that taekwondo has become a sport that has regularly won medals for the country. So I feel we should start giving it enough attention so that we can win all the 16 gold medals at stake in the event at the All Africa Games." The Speaker of the House of Representatives, Aminu Tambuwal, who was the chairman of the occasion, called on legislators to help promote sports in the country."Sports promote unity and integration globally. All over the world, sports is a major revenue earner that must be taken seriously. I urge legislators to continue to promote sports. We must also give budget consideration for sports," Tambuwal said.The Nigeria Taekwondo Federation used the occasion to drum up support for the teams preparation for the next Olympic Games qualifiers in Egypt, which comes up in January 2012.
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