From Joseph Inokotong, Abuja
The Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) has emerged victorious at the just concluded ’’One Service, One Medal’’ (OSOM Games) held at the MKO Abiola National Stadium, Abuja, winning a total of 104 medals which includes 50 gold, 33 silver and 21 bronze medals.
The NSCDC team which comprising about 80 athletes, 20 coaches and 15 officials competed and won medals in 11 sporting events which include Athletics, badminton, boxing, golf, scrabble, squash, swimming, table tennis, taekwondo, tennis and weight lifting.
Receiving the medals at the Corps National Headquarters, Abuja, the Acting Commandant General, Hilary Kelechi Madu, Fsi, extolled team Civil Defence for consistently making the Corps proud in all their outings, be it local, national or international competition.
He described the athletes as worthy ambassadors never to be forgotten in the history of the Corps having written the name of the service in gold countless number of times, thus, making the Corps a formidable sporting giant among the military and paramilitary agencies in the country..
An overly elated Madu, while expressing satisfaction in the performance of his athletes, assured them of his unwavering support, adequate compensation and payment of necessary entitlements in order to motivate and stimulate them for greater performance in the future.
“As an astute sports lover, I make bold to say that henceforth, we will give special attention to sports development and prioritize our athlete’s welfare to encourage them to bring more glory to the Corps and the nation at large”, Madu said.
The acting CG further stated that NSCDC is an organization to watch out for in the coming days and years, as he will spare no effort in ensuring that the Corps wins every available medal in all competition they are involved.
He reiterated that the Corps has produced many athletes that have represented Nigeria in so many international competitions and he will continue to promote sports among the personnel not only to produce more of such great talents but to maintain good physical and mental health of his personnel.
He applauded one of the athletes ASC 11 Ogho-Oghene Egwero, a three-time Olympian who has won several laurels for Nigeria at major international championships for coming atop as the best athlete of the competition after winning four gold medals for the Corps.
The recently concluded SOMO games featured other Services such as the Nigerian Navy, Nigerian Customs Service, Nigeria Police Force, Federal Fire Service, the Road Safety Corps, Nigeria Correctional Service, amongst others.