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Governor Sanwo-Olu wrote:
Today, our administration fulfilled a 25 year old promise to Chioma Ajunwa, Nigerian Gold Medalist at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics. I presented her the documents to a 3-bedroom flat at the Babatunde Raji Fashola Housing Estate in Iponri.
Chioma Ajunwa-Oparah (MON) set a record as the first Nigerian and Black African woman to win a gold medal at the world’s biggest sporting event and brought honour and glory to our country.
She is currently an Assistant Commissioner of Police and she continues to serve the country with diligence and patriotism.
The Lagos State Government writes:
The long wait is over for Chioma Ajunwa-Oparah, the first African woman to win a gold medal in the Olympic Games field event. Twenty-five years after, Lagos State Governor, Mr. Babajide Sanwo-Olu, redeemed the Government’s pledge of a house to the athlete.
The Governor, on Thursday, presented keys to a three-bedroom apartment in Babatunde Raji Fashola Housing Estate in Iponri to Ajunwa-Oparah, who is now an Assistant Commissioner of Police in Lagos Police Command.
Sanwo-Olu made the presentation at a reception held for Lagos State’s athletes who participated in the recently concluded National Sports Festival in Edo State. Lagos won 125 medals, including 32 gold and 27 silver medals in the contest.
The Governor, at the event, also presented cheques to the medal winners, some of whom are going to represent the nation in the forthcoming Tokyo Olympic Games in Japan.
Ajunwa-Oparah, a long jump athlete, put Nigeria on the global radar after she won a gold medal in the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, Georgia, United States. She was promised a house by the then Military Government, but the pledge was not fulfilled before the country returned to democracy in 1999.
Presenting the apartment’s key to the first woman gold medalist in Nigeria, Sanwo-Olu said the feat achieved by Ajunwa-Oparah helped redeem the country’s bad image and raised the hope of young people seeking to improve their sporting skills.
The Governor said: “When Dr. Chioma Ajunwa-Oparah represented the country in the 1996 Olympic Games, some promises were made and very typical of us as a people, we forget. I have met and kept the promises of my predecessors in ensuring that our athletes get what they deserve. The promise of a befitting shelter to Chioma Ajunwa-Oparah could have been delayed for 25 years, but today she will be a proud owner of a three-bedroom apartment in the famous Babatunde Raji Fashola Estate in Iponri.
“She has remained a good reference point for sport, journalism and everything that relates to sport in our country. She is a true demonstration of can-do spirit, which reflects her decision to serve the country as a police officer after attaining a coveted position on an international sporting platform. We will continue to use her as a testimony to give women strong voice and good representation in our sport organisations. We have made it compulsory to reserve 30 percent of positions to our women in Boards of sport organisations in Lagos.”
Ajunwa-Oparah, who earlier decorated the Governor with a replica of her 1996 gold medal, betrayed her emotion as she received the keys to the apartment from Sanwo-Olu.
She described the gesture as a “motivation” to fulfil her dream in raising a new generation of athletes, saying the Governor’s action had further reinforced her belief in the country.
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