Before giving up the sports that made her famous, Patience George, a gold medalist at the All African Games and a silver medalist in the Commonwealth, said she had her sights set on an Olympic gold.
In an interview with newsmen on Monday in Calabar, George, who finished sixth in the most recent Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, made this claim.
Before giving up the sport, George, who is now the 400m champion at the National Sports Festival (NSF), claimed she also wanted to shatter the African record.
The athlete, who discussed many challenges impacting Nigerian competitors in major competitions, credited her achievement thus far to her love of athletics.
With a 400-meter personal best time of 50.71 seconds, George claimed she was certain she could break Christine Mboma, a teen from Namibia, who had previously held the 48.54-second African mark.
She nevertheless requested assistance from the government and business organisations in order to realise her objective.
She claims, "I have accomplished everything I have thus far solely by my own efforts.
“My state, Cross River, has been the most disappointing of all. There is no form of support coming from my state as regards my trainings and other logistics.
“As for the Federal Government, it is only when there is a major championship that some of us get to see and feel its presence.
“Personally, I feel Nigeria will do better if the government does not wait for competitions before remembering their athletes,” she said.
She urged the governments to always ensure that they put the athletes in competitive mood even without any competition in sight.
George attributed Nigeria’s inability to win a medal in the women 400m race to the absence of Imabong Uko in Birmingham.
She praised the Federal Government for its support for athletes at the just-concluded Commonwealth Games.
Meanwhile, the Cross River Government has denied that it does not support its athletes.
Emmanuel Elom, Chairman, Cross River Sports Commission, said Gov. Ben Ayade’s government had always made it a point of duty to offer support to athletes from the state whenever the need arose.
According to him, the athlete must notify the government in writing about such competition because there are processes of making this support available.
“During the last Olympic in Tokyo, we offered support to athletes who are from the state because they notified the government, ” he said.