Gov. Fubara splashes N160 million cash gifts on Rivers State sports men, women

Rivers State Governor, Sir Siminalayi Fubara has splashed cash gifts worth over N160million on Rivers State athletes who recently emerged victorious in various national and international tournaments.

In an elaborate ceremony hosted at the Banquet Hall of Government House, Port Harcourt on Wednesday, July 11, 2024, Governor Fubara noted that he has no reason to spend the state’s resources in buying dynamite or renting crowd to protest, but would use the money for the peace loving and hard working people of Rivers State.

He said it is not about the cash rewards, but an encouragement for the spirit and love the athletes have for the state which enabled them to represent and make the state proud through their victories in the various tournaments.

The governor in his pronouncement gave the victorious Rivers United under 17 players the sum of N30 million, Rivers Hoopers Basketball N25million, Rivers Angels N25million, Rivers Beach Volleyball team N10 million and the Hockey team N10 million. Others are Rivers Table Tennis team N5million, Rivers Judo team N3 million, Chess N5million, Volleyball team N10 million, Paralympics team N10million, Cycling team N5million, Supporters Club N20million and individuals who won trophies to receive N2.5 million each.

He directed the Commissioner for Sports, Barr. Christopher Green to urgently design and commence a sports festival that will climax in December to enable the State celebrate the best from the tournaments as a way to further encourage the youths to unleash their productive potentials in sports.

Speaking earlier, Barr. Green commended Governor Fubara for the support and encouragement that has made the athletes perform excellently at various tournaments and return to the State with an avalanche of trophies and laurels.

The Sports Commissioner listed the exploits by the Beach Volleyball team, Rivers Hockey team, Table Tennis team, Queen Dan-Jumbo emerging as the best female chess player in Nigeria, the National Cycling team, the Rivers United under 17 team winner of the National Youth Under 17 Football League with teammates Jackson Seifa emerging as the highest goal scorer, Oscar Ozo as most valuable player and five of the players enlisted in the Nigeria Golden Eaglets team as well as seven of the players upgraded into the Rivers United Football Club.

In addition, Barr. Green listed other teams such as Rivers Angels that emerged first runner up of the Nigeria female Premier League and winner of the Presidential cup, stressing that for winning the trophy they were rewarded with N25 million and another N5million while for the exploits of Rivers Hoopers Basketball team they were also rewarded with $50,000USD by the organisers.