Former Gov Pulls Out Of Weightlifting Presidential Race

Former President of the Nigeria Judo Federation, Senator Orji Uzor Kalu has decided to pull out of the race to become president of the Weightlifting federation of Nigeria.
This decision was reached after due consultation with friends who advised him to pull his weight behind another contestant, Lawrence Iquaibom, a former commonwealth cham-pion in the sport.
As Africa Pillar of Sports, Kalu reckons that he needs to play the big brother role to a former Olympian, who has indeed invested his passion and money into developing the sport at state and National levels and should not be seen as an elder who wants to reap where he has not sowed.
“My intention was clear from the onset. I wanted to return weightlifting to where it used to be. This is one sport that can give us medals at major international compe-titions. Everyone knows what I achieved as president of the Nigeria Judo Federation and now, as Chief Whip of the Nigerian Senate, I thought I could support Weight-lifting, as part of my contribution to youth development.
“However, after due consultations with stakeholders of the sport, I realised that a former olympian and one time commonwealth cham-pion is already in the race and I thought that there was need to encourage him since he has same zeal to move the sport forward”.
“On my part, I am willing to offer any kind of support, if need be, to the federation whenever necessary. Since we have the same intention, which is to rebrand weightlifting in Nigeria, there is absolutely no need to contest against a young and committed stake-holder, who truly has the interest of the sport at heart,” Kalu said.