Okonjo-Iweala Assures On Sports Budget For 2012

Minister of Finance and Co-ordinating Minister of the Nigerian economy, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, has assured sports loving Nigerians that the government will include sports in the budgetary allocation for this year.

Debunking media reports that the Federal Government did not mention sports in the 2012 budget, Okonjo-Iweala said the government’s budget for sports this year is intact.

She noted that the government of Goodluck Jonathan is not indifferent to sports, saying sports remain vital in the country’s budget.

“It is absolute rubbish what some people are saying that the government did not mention sports in the budgetary allocation for this year. Sports is vital to this country and therefore cannot be ignored as some people are claiming the government has done,” she said.

The minister said further that the government will devise a means to assist the athletes that will represent the country at the London 2012 Olympic Games.

“The government is actually thinking of a way to assist the young men and women that will represent the country at the London Olympics this year,” she said.

—Bimbo Ajayi