By Meletus EZE
The Nigerian Ambassador in Japan, Prof. Mohammed Yisa, has assured that the Embassy would work assiduously to ensure that Nigerian Team record a successful outing at the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo.
Yisa said this in a statement made available to newsmen in Abuja by the Minister in the embassy, Dr Tiwatope Elias-Fatile, on Thursday.
Elias-Fatile quoted Yisa as saying this when he received the Minister of Youth and Sports, Mr Solomon Dalung, in the Embassy in Tokyo.
The Minister in his response expressed gratitude to the Ambassador for the assurance.
Dalung described the embassy as the “eye” of the Nigerian Government in Japan.
He noted that as the Ministry of Youth and Sports prepared for the 2020 Olympics, it would continue to rely on the counsel of the Mission to guide the ministry on logistics, welfare and other relevant issues.
While in Tokyo, the Minister inspected the sites and the facilities under construction in preparation for Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games, including the facilities in the likely camping sites for the Nigerian Team for the pre-Olympic training.
He also attended the XXIII ANOC (Association of National Olympic Committees) General Assembly tagged TOKYO 2018.
The Minister, who arrived Tokyo on Nov 24, returned to Abuja on Nov. 28.
The Minister was accompanied to Tokyo by the President of the Nigerian Olympic Committee, Mr Habu Gumel, and some officials of the Federal Ministry of Youth and Sports.
The 2020 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XXXII Olympiad and commonly known as Tokyo 2020, is an international multi-sport event scheduled for July 24, to Aug. 19, 2020.
The government of Japan has been working round the clock in preparations to host the events.
On Nov. 24, Japan’s Prime Minister, Shinzo Abe, and the President of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), Thomas Bach, paid a joint-visit to the Fukushima Azuma Baseball Stadium to inspect the Olympic Baseball and Softball venue.
It would be recalled that on Sept. 7, 2013, after two rounds of voting during the 125th IOC Session in Buenos Aires, Argentina, the IOC awarded the Games of the XXXII Olympiad in 2020 to Tokyo.
The other Candidate Cities during the voting were Istanbul in Turkey and Madrid in Spain.
Nigeria made history in Atlanta ’96 Olympics when its Flying Eagles defeated all odds to clinch the Olympic Gold in football.
