By Monica Iheakam
Commonwealth Games Long Jump champion, Ese Brume says the national award conferred on her by President Muhammadu Buhari recently is a mark of her achievement for her work.
Brume made history as the first Nigerian athlete since 1999 to win medals at the World Indoor and Outdoor championships and the first to hit the 7meter mark at the Commonwealth Games.
For her historic leaps, the first Nigerian athlete to win medals at all continental and global track and field championships including the African, Commonwealth and Olympic Games was conferred with a Member of the Order of Niger, MON by President Buhari last week.
An appreciative Brume expressed her delight with the recognition on her Facebook page and promised to do much more than she has done in honour of her fatherland.
‘I am extremely honoured to receive such an important award from His excellency @muhammadubuhari. I am earnestly grateful for the recognition I have received for my work.
‘Winning this award would not have been possible without the inspiration I have received from God from whom I have derived the strength to challenge myself and perform better at each stage.
‘I sincerely thank each one of you for your constant support. I can proudly hold up this award as a mark of my achievement.
‘I also promise to only get better at my work so that you can see me here for more of such awards’
The next target for Brume is to successfully defend the African Games she won four year ago in Morocco when the train moves to Ghana next year.
She will also be hoping to complete a hat-trick of World Championships medals with the gold this time after winning bronze in 2019 and silver in 2021.