By Johnbosco Agbakwuru, Abuja

A civil society group, Coalition of Civil Society Groups for Peace, Security, Good Governance, Equity & Justice and Media Practitioners for Development (MPD), has praised the Minister of Sports Development, Senator John Owan-Enoh, for the impressive performance of the Nigerian team at the 2024 Paralympics.

In a statement signed by Johnson Eze and Comrade James Okoronkwo, the group commended the minister for transparently utilizing resources, leading to Nigeria’s sporting success. They faulted criticisms against the minister, particularly the comparison of the 2024 Olympics budget with the 2020 Olympics, calling it “misplaced” and “reprehensible”.

The group noted that the N12 billion spent on the 2024 Olympics and Paralympics included expenditures for athlete qualifications and was slightly above $7 million, comparable to the $8 million spent in 2020. They also highlighted the increase in athletes representing Nigeria in 2024 (110) compared to 2020 (92).

The CSO praised the sports minister for the successes recorded, including the U-20 female team’s victory in the ongoing female World Cup, the Super Eagles’ win against Benin Republic, and Folashade’s gold medal win at the Paralympics. They called on Nigerians to support the minister in moving the country’s sports forward.