By Yomi Omogbeja (23/03/2007)

A top Nigerian athlete has launched a bold initiative to help develop the sport in the country.

Enefiok Udo-Obong is a two time-Olympic medallist; three time-national champion in the 400m, as well as a six-time medallist in the Nigerian National Sports Festival

He anchored the Nigerian 4x400m men’s relay team to a Silver medal (later upgraded belatedly to GOLD) at the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games in a new African record and a Bronze medal against all odds at the Athens 2004 Olympics.

Udo-Obong was recently in London to promote his book - "The Silver Lining" launched in November 2006 and also to raise the profile of his sports development foundation known as ASSET - African Sports Support and Education Trust due to launch in 2007

The 24-year-old graduate of Human Anatomy from the University of Calabar said his purpose of writing the book is to motivate and encourage up and coming Nigerian athletes and to share with them his experiences and some of the problems he faced in his rise to stardom.

According to him, the Silver Lining Foundation aims to assist sports men and women to secure admission into schools and offering training assistance and scholarships to the young talents.

The Foundation will also cater for retired athletes and help them plan their retirement life. Part of the objectives is to encourage the marriage of sports and education, especially for the less privileged ones.

"Source of Inspiration"

He spoke with local journalists at his launch on what motivated him and why he decided to write his biography. Here are some excerpts:

"I have loved writing and the foundations of my education encouraged me to do so. One other great reason why I wrote is to remove the stigma of people saying that sportsmen and women are illiterates.

"A well educated person can seek his or her dreams whether in politics or sports or music, we should encourage all.

"My style of writing is to make easy reading to the public and a wide gap of audience without being too austere and still keeping some form of literary taste."

"I wrote this book as a source of inspiration for all Nigerian youths who have a dream and require some form of motivation, using my own experience in the biggest stage in the world...The Olympics.

"It just shows how someone totally Nigerian produced and trained can meet up in a world class environment and achieve world class standards."