A Nigerian martial artist, Santos Akhilele has taken to twitter to seek the help of fellow Nigerians in order to put the country’s name in the record books of Taekwondo.
He is working towards becoming the first Nigerian to win a medal in the highest level of Taekwondo in 25 years. Santos qualified to represent the country in the 68kg class at the 2017 World Taekwondo Championship billed for Muju, South Korea from June 24 to 30.
However, the sport’s federation in Nigeria is short of funds so Santos is left to find funds on his own to attend the championship.
“I need to raise funds for my tickets and feeding for the event,” he said in a series of tweets on Thursday.
The martial artist has setup a GoFund Me account with a target of £2,000. So far he has only raised £35.
Santos said on his GoFundMe page: “The last time Nigeria won a medal at this event was a bronze in 1992. Nigeria has never been in the final of a world championship. I have everything it takes to win a medal for my country and make history at this event. I have also secured a spot at a high performance training camp in Shariah UAE with coach Abdullah Hatim who will guide me at the main event in South Korea.”
He asked Nigerians not to insult the sport minister in a bid to support him.
3. Finally please don’t throw insults at the minister/federation on my account. That’s not what I want. Let’s partner and break records!
— Santos Akhilele (@SantosTHEBOSS) May 10, 2017
See his appeal below.
