Sports Minister Pledge Appropriate Welfare For Ex-Tennis Champion, Tanya Okpala
The minister of Sports, John Owan Enoh, has assured that his ministry will provide appropriate welfare for Tanya Okpala, a former lawn tennis champion, who was found roaming the streets of Anmabra state, recently.
US-based Okpala was on Sunday, captured in a video roaming the street while begging for water of soft drink. Few hours after the video went viral, the Anambra state governor, Prof. Chukwuma Soludo, through the ministry of women affairs rescued her and ordered for her rehabilitation.
Taking to his X handle on Monday, the minister revealed that Okpala had a health relapse after undergoing rehabilitation which was sponsored by the Nigerian Tennis Federation, years ago.
He wrote;
“The viral video of Okpala Tanya is disturbing, to say the least. I spoke with Tanya’s father who briefed me on her current condition and the genesis of her problem confirmed to me, that the Nigerian Tennis Federation paid for Tanya’s first rehabilitation many years ago when her condition became public knowledge but sadly the former tennis star relapsed after a short while.
Okpala Tanya was once a tennis player of repute who has played in a lot of tennis tournaments. She represented Nigeria and the African continent and won laurels to her name. She was a tennis junior’s champion who played at the highest level and was ranked number one at the time.
let me thank the Governor of Anambra state H E Charles Soludo and his team for the swift intervention in the case of Tanya Okpala. This is highly commendable.
As a Ministry, our six-point agenda WAIFAR, has the W for activating and enabling a WELFARE system that caters to serving and retired athletes. As a ministry, we will take action in this regard as every athlete who has brought glory to our nation deserves appropriate welfare”
