By Adedapo Adesanya
President Muhammadu Buhari has wished Nigerian athletes participating in the Beijing 2022 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games success at the upcoming competition.
In a statement, Mr Buhari entrusts that Nigerian athletes participating in different events will excel at the competition and surpass the previous record set in Pyeongchang, South Korea, in 2018, when the nation competed for the first time.
Recognising that the Olympic Games is a platform for closer friendship and cooperation between countries, the Nigerian president noted that he hopes that all athletes, in the pursuit of their Olympic dream, would promote the core values of the games: excellence, friendship and respect.
He also congratulated China on hosting the Winter Olympics, lauding Beijing for making history as the first “dual Olympic city” in the world’s Olympic history, having hosted the Summer Olympics in 2008.
President Buhari affirmed the support of the Nigerian government and its people to China saying that it is a friendly and brotherly country to Nigeria.
He expressed optimism that with China’s rich experience in organising international events, the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics, with the slogan Together for a Shared Future, will be delivered as a splendid, exceptional and extraordinary Olympic event for the world.
The Beijing Winter Olympics, the 24th edition of the showpiece that started way back in 1924, will be held from February 4 to 20.
Beijing will be the only city in the world to have hosted the Winter and Summit Olympics. The city hosted the Summer Olympics in 2008.
Modupe Gbadeyanka 
Dipo Olowookere