Bayelsa State Governor, Senator Douye Diri, has announced a reward package for athletes who represented and won medals for the state at the 2022 National Sports Festival which was held late last year in Asaba, Delta State.
He equally announced automatic employment for those yet to be employed in the state sports council and directed the Ministry of Youth and Sports to work out the modalities.
Bayelsa placed a historic second behind Delta, surpassing its earlier best position of third recorded at the 2020 festival hosted by Edo State in 2021.
Diri, who received the state’s contingent yesterday inside the Executive Council Chambers of the Government House, Yenagoa, recalled that Bayelsa won 109 gold, 104 silver and 87 bronze medals.
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The governor also announced N1m each to individual gold medalists and N750,000 each for team gold.
He also rewarded individual silver medalists with N500,000 and N300,000 for team silver medalists while individual bronze medalists got N300,000 and N150,000 for each team bronze medalist.
Coaches and secretaries of gold medal teams got N500,000 each while their assistants got N300,000 each. Those in silver category N300,000 each and their assistants N200,000.
The governor also rewarded athletes without medals with N50,000 each.
He said “You have broken your own record and now Bayelsa is the number two sporting state in Nigeria. Your record and the state’s exploits in football and other sporting activities have resulted in my being nominated as the Best Sports Governor in Nigeria.
“That award will be dedicated to all of you. Let us continue to raise the image of the state like you did in Asaba.”