NAN-S-1
Dissatisfaction
By Millicent Ifeanyichukwu
Lagos, June 29, 2017 (NAN) A paralympic gold medalist, Lauritta Onye, on Thursday expressed dissatisfaction at the delay by the Federal Government to give her N1.1 million for excelling in the 2015 World Championships.
Onye told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos that the government promised to reward her with the sum since 2015 but had yet to fulfill the promise in spite of her appeals.
She claimed that some of her colleagues had since been rewarded.
Onye told NAN that her coach had also yet to receive the N900, 000 promised by the government.
“I am not happy with this treatment. I reminded the Sports Minister when he visited the National Stadium, Surulere, Lagos, this year, and he directed that we should send our bank account details which I did.
“However, we have not received any alert or message concerning the payment. I don’t know why my case is different,’’ she said.
She said that the delayed payment almost discouraged her from representing the nation in the Rio de Janeiro 2016 Paralympic Games, where she also clinched a gold medal in the shot put F-40 class event.
Onye, who won gold medal in the 2015 World Paralympic Championships and African Championships in Doha and Tunisia, appealed to the ministry to pay the money without further delay.
Responding, Nneka Anibeze, Personal Assistant to the Minister of Sports, Solomon Dalong, said that she would find out why Onye had not been paid. (NAN)
MIL/ERO/IGO
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(Edited by Emmanuel Okara/Ijeoma Popoola)