President Goodluck Jonathan on Monday set a target of at least 36 medals for Nigerian athletes at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, saying at least five of the medals should be gold. Jonathan spoke at a presidential sports sector retreat with the theme “Harnessing the Potential of Nigeria’s Sports Sector: From Playground to Podium” held at the Presidential Villa, Abuja. To achieve the feat, the President said governors of each of the 36 states would concentrate on the sports where they had edge over others and deliver medals in such sports. He said, “Every state has some level of comparative advantage in one form of sports or the order and if each state promises to give Nigerians a medal in this area, and another medal in this area, that means we are expecting 36 medals. “(Governor Rotimi) Amaechi will tell us that Rivers State will give us a medal in this area, Lyyel Imoke will tell us that Cross River will give us a medal in this area and Kogi will also say the same and all the 36 governors. “Out of these 36 medals, at least five will be gold. I also believe that the private sector will play a key role. We know that in some countries, the private sector plays some key roles in sporting activities and not just trading or manufacturing sporting wares.” Jonathan said his administration was committed to ensuring that Nigeria became the best sporting nation in Africa and among the top four sporting nations in the Commonwealth, and ultimately rule the world. Jonathan observed that no other sector of national life had a greater force for mobilising and uniting the people around a common purpose than sports. “No nation can afford to overlook the relevance of sports to national development and national well-being. “As a powerful socio-economic tool for youth development, nation building and instilling core values of social justice, sports remains at the heart of our national transformation agenda,” he said. He added that while adequate funding of sports was crucial, efficient and transparent management of resources was key, saying that was the reason he set up a committee under the Minister of Finance, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, to work out a strategy for sustainable management funding of the sports sector. Minister of Sports, Bolaji Abdullahi, observed that the crisis in the sports sector as shown in the nation’s poor outing at the London Olympics called for collective solution.