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Former International and Atlanta Olympic Games gold medallist in the football event, Nwankwo Kanu, has stated that the special recognition award given to Sports Minister, Sunday Dare at the Maldives 2023 Sports Awards was a big boost to Nigeria.
Kanu said he was particularly elated when the citation for the award was read out to a global sports audience at such a big event.
The citation goes thus; “During the outstanding tenure of Sunday Akin Dare, he has made giant strides towards the development of sports infrastructure and Nigeria’s results on the international stage have been phenomenal.
“Mr. Sunday Dare has received the most prestigious awards which include the highest order of Sports Administrator Awards by Association of National Olympic Committees of Africa (ANOCA) and he also received the Public Service Award of Excellence presented to him by the President Muhammadu Buhari and numerous awards including the Most Innovative Minister Award by New Telegraph Newspapers, during his great career as a Sports Minister.
“To appreciate and celebrate the support to the sport community, we are honoured to present this Special Recognition Award to the Honourable Minister of Sports and Youth Development of Nigeria, Mr. Sunday Akin Dare.”
The former Arsenal player added that he was overwhelmed with joy that an administrator in Nigeria was so honoured at an international stage before many reputable current and former sports icons.
“I was so elated that a Nigerian got such recognition. Somehow the people of Maldives are aware of the good works of our sports minister and that is a big plus for us. I pray that those coming after him will follow the template he will leave behind. Nigerians should be proud of this man,” Kanu said.
The ex-international was also a recipient of the football icon award along with Italy’s Fabio Canavaro and England’s David James.
“I am happy to receive the icons award together with other top ex-footballers in my generation. It is good to always put in effort in all we do. Maldives 2023 awards was a blast for Nigeria,” Kanu stressed.
