By Gbenga Sodeinde, Ado-Ekiti
Heritagenewsng reports, there was mild drama today at the Oluyemi Kayode stadium i Ado Ekiti as athletes refused to allow staff and coaches of the Ekiti State Sports Council access into the stadium.
The athletes were expressing displeasure at the delay in fulfilment of the promise made by the governor, Dr Kayode Fayemi on September 1,2021
At a reception presided by governor Fayemi in his office, he promisd to reward any athlete that won gold at the National Sports Festival with 300k while he promised to give 250k to each silver medalist and 2001k to each bronze medalist and their coaches.
The athletes who were calm in their protest said the sports council management needed todo more to ensure fulfilment of the governor’s pledge.
Chairman of the Ekiti state Athletes Association , Yusuf Ismail who spoke to the Sports Writers Association of Nigeria (SWAN) said it has been almost 40 days since the governor hosted the athletes who won medals for Ekiti state at the Edo 2020 National Sports Festival.
The Athletes Association called nn the governor to promptly make good his promise adding that the token financial reward was the only thing that gives the athletes solace since most of them were not employed by the state government.
It took the intervention of the chairman, Ekiti state sports council, Mrs Olusola Osetoba and the acting general manager, Mr Adekunle Adeyemi who came around to pacify the athletes .
Mrs Osetoba who applauded the way the athletes comported themselves in orderly manner assured that the state governor would not renege on his promise.
She said the sports council management was doing all within its power to ensure the release of the financial reward promised by the state governor.
In his submission, the acting General Manager said due process in the civil service could have caused the delay as all necessary documentations must be perfected to ensure accountability and probity before any fund is released from government coffers.
They called for more patience with the hope that the athletes messages will get to the governor while assuring that the needful will be done soon.
After about 45 minutes of discussion between the athletes and the sports council management, the gate of the Oluyemi Kayode Stadium was thrown open by the athletes at about 10:30am as normalcy returned and staffers got back to work without any fear of molestation nor harasment.
