The State Secretary of the People’s Democratic Party in Ekiti, Ogun Funmilayo Theresa(OFT), has hailed the Nigerian born German Shot Putter, Yemisi Ogunleye, for winning gold medal in the just concluded Olympics games in Paris, France.
Funmi Ogun, who had indicated interest in the 2026 governorship seat on the platform of PDP, said though Yemisi represented Germany in the sport fiesta, but available evidence showed that she was born by a Nigerian father of Ekiti descent, which makes it worth being celebrated.
The PDP leader gave the commendation in a release she issued in Ado Ekiti on Tuesday, saluting the athlete for written her name in gold by her exceptional outing.
Yemisi, born in Germany by a Nigerian father, made history by winning the gold medal in the women’s shot put at the Paris 2024 Olympics. This victory marked Germany’s first gold in the event since 1996.
However, Funmi Ogun , who also extended similar gesture to other Nigerian born athletes who represented other countries, said their switch of allegiance to other nations exemplified failure of governance in Nigeria.
The governorship aspirant urged Nigerian leader at both national and subnational levels to ruminate on how Nigeria athletes are representing other nations in droves at the country’s expense, and come to reality that something was surely wrong with the country.
“Our highly talented youths are now switching allegiance to other nations in droves. This should terrify us. It was a bad signal. They were blazing the trail garnering gold medals when Nigeria was medaless in the sport fiesta. This was a sorrowful scenario.
“Those who are desirous of having a better nation should know that this signaled a failure of our system and we have to reset our brains and thinking to get it right.
“Our youths are gradually becoming disillusioned and despair about our nation. They are becoming hopeless and this was loud and clear in the just concluded endbadgovernance nationwide protests.
“The time for all of us to rethink is now, so that we can have a future that is far better than what we are experiencing today.
“On behalf of my teeming supporters and PDP members across Ekiti State, I congratulate the Omuo Ekiti born Yemi Ogunleye on this feat and wish her the best in her current and future endeavours.
“We are proud of her achievement and we will continue to identify with her as Ekiti citizens irrespective of any country she represented”, Funmi Ogun said.