Sixty of the men and women who have made Nigeria proud in sports since independence in 1960 are to be honoured today in Abuja as part of the activities to celebrate the diamond anniversary of the country.
The 60 Sports Icons were selected from a list of over 3,500 nominations who were voted for through television, radio and other social media platforms.
The event which will hold at the Velodrome of the Moshood Abiola National Stadium in Abuja is expected to be graced by President Muhammadu Buhari, members of the Federal Executive Council (FEC) as well some of the awardees and members of their families.
Nigeria’s first individual Olympic gold medalist, Chioma Ajunwa; the Under-23 Dream Team that won Africa’s first Olympic football gold at Atlanta ‘96; the late Sunday Bada-led 4x400m relay team that won silver that was later upgraded to gold at the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games and the country’s 1994 ‘Golden Generation’ footballers are among some of the sports icons to be honoured.
That ‘Golden Generation’ qualified Nigeria for her first-ever World Cup in 1994 and also won the 1994 AFCON in Tunisia.
Some of the stars from this era were part of the Dream Team that won Nigeria’s historic Gold at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics with Nwankwo Kanu as the inspirational captain
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