2nd May, 2017
Senior Special Assistant to the President on Foreign Affairs and Diaspora, Mrs Abike Dabiri-Erewa, has congratulated Nigerian-born boxer, Anthony Oluwafemi-Joshua, for defeating Wladimir Klitschko in Saturday’s World Heavyweight Boxing fight.
Dabiri-Erewa gave the commendation in a statement by her media aide, Mr Abdurrahman Balogun, on Tuesday in Abuja.
She said that the victory over the Ukrainian was not only a thing of pride to Nigerians, but to Africa.
“I congratulate you on this wonderful feat, for winning the biggest fight in British boxing history.
“We are truly proud of you and urge you to continue to use your professional prowess to extol the virtues of Nigerian heritage.
“Your shinning beacon serves as inspiration to the youth of Nigeria.
“Your victory is also a testimony to the fact that Nigerians are great people, contributing in many ways to the development of the country and the continent as a whole,” Dabiri-Erewa stated.
She noted with satisfaction that in spite of the challenges being faced by Anthony in his career, he had remained focused and did not allow that to lure him into any form of criminality.
Joshua defended his IBF heavyweight title and fought for the vacant WBA (Super) and IBO heavyweight titles against Klitschko before 90, 000 spectators at Wembley Stadium.
Joshua, 27, was born in Watford to Yoruba parents from Southwest Nigeria, with a fellow Nigerian boxer, Ben lleyemi, made their professional debut together in 2013.
He was a bricklayer before taking up boxing full-time. He also excelled at football and athletics and broke nine-year-old 100-metre record with a time of 11.6 seconds.