•Gold medalists demand audience with Buhari
Nigeria won a flurry of gold medals on Tuesday to shoot into the top 10 medals table of the Commonwealth Games in Gold Coast, Australia even breaking a World record in a stunning performance by Oyema Esther.
And the star athletes who achieved this Golden moment for Team Nigeria are from Para-Powerlifting etching their names in Gold.
Roland Ezuruike sparked the golden moment from the Men’s Lightweight class where he dumped his compatriot, Paul Kehinde who was before now holding the record to the Silver with a total lift of 224.3kg. It was a glorious moment for a Nigerian first and second finish as Kehinde Paul settled for Silver while England’s Jawad Ali took the bronze.
Nigeria’s national anthem was played repeatedly as the Green, White Green fluttered in the sky.
Thereafter, the Women ran riot producing scintillating performances to give Team Nigeria two gold and a silver in another first and second finish in the Women’s Lightweight class.
Oyema Esther snatched the gold after a horse race with Ejike Lucy. Esther won gold as Lucy settled for Silver while the Nigerians yet again and condemned England to Bronze.
And when the heavyweight men stepped out, Ibraheem Abdulazeez powered into yet another lift that added Gold to the treasury of Team Nigeria. He left Malaysia and India to settle for silver and bronze respectively.
With this sparkling performances, Team Nigeria has shot into the 9th position of the Medal’s Table with 4 gold, 4 silver to join South Africa which is perched on the 5th position with 9 gold, 6 silver and 6 bronze medals as the top two African countries on the top 10 medals table.
Meanwhile, the new Women’s Para Powerlifting world record holder, Esther Oyema (MON) and Commonwealth Gold medalist, Rowland Ezuruike want an audience with President Muhammadu Buhari after winning gold on Day 6 of the Commonwealth Games in Gold Coast.
Oyema who lifted 131kg in the Women’s lightweight final to set a new world record said that meeting President Buhari will be a dream come true.