MTN Nigeria has rewarded three CHAMPS athletes with N1 million each, following their outstanding performances at national, continental and international competitions.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the beneficiaries are Ezekiel Asuquo, Lucy Nwankwo and Toheebat Jimoh, who were received by the Chief Marketing Officer, MTN, Onyinye Ikenna-Emeka on Saturday in Lagos.
MTN CHAMPS is a major national grassroots athletics championship in Nigeria sponsored by MTN Nigeria and organised by the Making of Champions (MoC).
Ikenna-Emeka said the recognition reflected MTN’s continued commitment to grassroots athletics and support of young talents pursuing excellence on national and international stages.
She urged the athletes to appreciate their achievements, saying success often made athletes focus on future goals while overlooking the progress already made.
“Sometimes, in the pursuit of excellence, we get so focused on the next goal that we forget to acknowledge how far we have come.
”The athletes’ achievements reflected both the opportunities provided to them and their commitment, discipline and determination to develop their talents,” she said.
According to her, the athletes received N1 million each from MTN Nigeria in recognition of their achievements and continued commitment to developing athletics.
MTN said CHAMPS had attracted more than 22,000 young athletes from over 1,500 schools since its inception.
Ikenna-Emeka said that the competition provided opportunities for talent identification, training and development, with graduates progressing to major national, continental and international competitions.
She said the competitions included the World Athletics Relays, African Senior Championships, Nigerian Championships, Commonwealth Games Trials, Dakar regional championships and World U20 Championships.
MTN said Asuquo, Nwankwo and Jimoh’s journeys demonstrated the pathway created through CHAMPS for young athletes to progress onto bigger stages.
The athletes reflected on their progress since Season Four of MTN CHAMPS, highlighting their transition from school competitions to representing Nigeria internationally.
Asuquo and Jimoh represented Nigeria at the World Athletics Championships in Gaborone, Botswana, before contributing to the country’s gold medal success at the African Senior Championships in Accra.
Nwankwo won two individual gold medals at the CAA U18/U20 Region II Championships in Dakar before representing Nigeria at the World U20 Championships.
Asuquo expressed gratitude to MTN CHAMPS and MoC Academy for providing opportunities that helped him develop his talent and compete internationally.
He said his coaches recognised his potential early, encouraged discipline and commitment, and gave him the confidence to represent Nigeria on the global stage.
