By Linus Aleke, Abuja
The Federal Government on Friday called out the reigning Italian professional football champion, Società Sportiva Calcio Napoli, for assaulting a Nigerian professional, Victor Osimhen, over a penalty kick he missed during a football match against Bologna.
The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Amb. Yusuf Maitama Tuggar, who called out the Italian football club in a statement, condemned in strong terms, the mistreatment of Victor Osimhen by his club Napoli.
The Nigerian government and Embassy, Amb. Tuggar said, shall continue to monitor happenings not only in Napoli but around the world on how her sportsmen and women are treated and all other citizens of the Nigerian diaspora and will waste no time in seeking redress for such mistreatments.
Tuggar said, Nigerian sportsmen and women in the diaspora must be treated with dignity.
The Special Assistant on Media and Communications Strategy, to the Minister, Alkasim Abdulkadir, who signed the statement, noted that the Minister’s reaction followed a viral video trolling Super Eagles star and forward Victor Osimhen over missing a penalty kick in a football match against Bologna.
The matter, Tuggar, said falls under the 4Ds Strategy of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, also known as the Tinubu doctrine, which mainstreams Democracy, Development, Diaspora, and Demography as part of its outward-looking objectives.
The Minister said: “The Diaspora component considers the life and dignity of every Nigerian in Diaspora sacrosanct and deserving of respect and dignity by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
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When we go about our duties, we should always remember Article 1 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights that All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood”.
He concluded that Napoli did not act in the spirit of brotherhood by the mocking of her star player Victor Osimhen who was instrumental to the team winning the Serie A Championship last season.
