Nigerian Govt Berates Napoli For Mocking Osimhen Over Penalty Miss After Championship Win

The Nigerian Government through the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Yusuf Maitama Tuggar, has criticised Napoli Football Club and fans for mocking Super Eagles star and forward, Victor Osimhen, for missing a penalty kick in a football match against Bologna.

Tuggar said Friday that the development contained in a viral video, contravenes the Universal Declaration of Human Rights which stipulates that all people, including Nigerian sports men and women in the diaspora, must be treated with dignity.

The minister stated that Napoli did not act in the spirit of brotherhood by mocking Osimhen despite previously helping the team to win the Serie A championship last season.

“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,” the minister said according to a statement released by his spokesperson, Alkasim Abdulkadir.

The minister added that the Nigerian government will continue to monitor happenings not only in Napoli but around the world on how sports men and women are treated and all other citizens of the Nigerian diaspora.

He warned that the federal government will seek redress if such mistreatment against a Nigerian occurs again.

The statement reads further, “The matter according to Ambassador Tuggar, 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 Diaspora component which considers the life and dignity of every Nigerian in
Diaspora sacrosanct and deserving of respect and dignity in accordance with the
universal declaration of human rights.”