Just when you begin to lose faith in Nigeria, Chierika ‘Coco’ Ukogu comes rowing

In Nigeria, everything is designed to pull you down.

 

You try to build, the system finds a way to pull it down.

 

Nigeria feels like swimming upstream, against the strong currents. So you just want to give up on the country like,

 

Then Chierika Ukogu comes along, rowing with her slender but firm arms, and you start to reconsider.

row 2 RIO #teamnigeria pic.twitter.com/k54XKYmRBC

— Chierika Ukogu (@cukogu) February 20, 2016

Chierika ‘Coco’ Ukogu is a Nigerian born, Philadelphia-raised rower, and is currently the first ever to represent Nigeria in the Olympics at Women’s Single Scull event.

 

And that’s not the most amazing part.

She trained and raised her funds without the support of the Nigerian Rowing Federation.

Coco began rowing in 2006 at Mount Saint Joseph Academy, she hasn’t stopped since then.

After High School, she proceeded to Stanford University, and after graduating in 2014, she put medicine on hold to train for the Olympics. 30 hours every week, she rowed, training with Vesper Boat Club, and Conshohocken Rowing Club in Philadelphia.

 

And now, she’s at the Olympics, rowing for the Green-White-Green.

inside the #OpeningCeremony GO Team NIGERIA 🇳🇬🇳🇬 pic.twitter.com/Xd42f08Lki

— Chierika Ukogu, MD (@cukogu) August 6, 2016

But she’s not just at the Olympics to ‘make an appearance’. Currently, she has qualified to the semi-finals.

 

We’re a proud. All of us. And perhaps, kids like these will be too.

Go for Gold, Coco.

Oga Dalung, how far?

Comments

comments