The Sports Minister, Senator John Owan Enoh has promised to take action concerning the rehabilitation of former tennis star Okpala Tanya whose deplorable health condition was the focus of a viral video circulating on the social media.
The Minister on his verified social media handle on X said: “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”
“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.
