By Esosa Oba
The Minister of Youths and Sports Development, Sunday Dare, has congratulated Nigerian born UFC champion, Israel Adesanya, on yet another successful title defence.
Adesanya, early Sunday in Las Vegas, United States of America, defeated Jared Cannonier to retain his UFC Middleweight crown with a unanimous decision victory.
Dare, in a statement, praised Adesanya for being a worthy youth ambassador for the country.
The Minister said Nigeria is proud of the achievements of Israel Adesanya and another UFC champion Kamaru Usman who have continued to identify with the country every time they compete.
“We are proud of Adesanya and Usman and we will continue to celebrate them because they always identify with Nigeria.
“As good Ambassadors of this country, they always proudly carry the green-white-green flag everywhere they go.
“They are our global icons. We believe they have many more successes ahead of them,” Dare concluded.
The minister also called on other Nigerian athletes to emulate the two great fighters who have continued to demonstrate uncommon patriotism and zeal to bring honour to their country.
“What the duo is doing by way of identifying with their fatherland is worthy of emulation. I urge Nigerian youths to always identify with the country in all seasons.
“There is no place like home. So they shouldn’t forget their fatherland,” he advised.
