Air Peace chairman rewards 11-year-old gold medalist with free flights, N1m

As part of his efforts to support Nigerian sports and athletes, Allen Onyema, the Chairman of Air Peace, has rewarded Stephanie Ogechukwu Onusiriuka, an 11-year-old Nigerian gymnast who recently clinched a gold medal at the Junior Olympics Level of the African Club Championship in Pretoria, South Africa, with N1million and free flights to Air Peace destinations for trainings or competitions.

Onyema, who, on Monday, August 22, 2022, at the Air Peace headquarters in Lagos, congratulated Onusiriuka for making Nigeria proud at the continental competition, called on the Federal Government to consider investing more in gymnastics while urging the government and the private sector to support the young gymnast in nurturing her talent and winning more medals for the country.

“She should be a role-model for other children coming up. Instead of taking to the streets and engaging in all sorts of vices, she has set a good example for others to follow. So, Nigeria and the private sector too should endeavour to help her in whichever way they can.

“Air Peace has done its bit. And going forward, anywhere she has a programme, and Air Peace flies to that destination, we shall be flying her there free of charge. Any country she is going and Air Peace flies there, we will take her there free of charge for training and competition. We will also give her a token of 1 million naira to encourage her to continue doing more”, he stated.

Onusiriuka is a current National Champion who won one Gold, two Silver and one Bronze at the National Sports Festival in Edo State. A winner of the Most Outstanding Child Athlete at Nigeria @ 60, the 11-year-old girl also won a Gold Medal in South Africa and a Bronze at the Ilorin Youth Games, both in 2019.

Ifeoma Okeke-Korieocha

Ifeoma Okeke-Korieocha is the Aviation Correspondent at BusinessDay Media Limited, publishers of BusinessDay Newspapers. She is also the Deputy Editor, BusinessDay Weekender Magazine, the Saturday Weekend edition of BusinessDay. She holds a BSC in Mass Communication from the prestigious University of Nigeria, Nsukka and a Masters degree in Marketing at the University of Lagos. As the lead writer on the aviation desk, Ifeoma is responsible and in charge of the three weekly aviation and travel pages in BusinessDay and BDSunday. She also overseas and edits all pages of BusinessDay Saturday Weekender. She has written various investigative, features and news stories in aviation and business related issues and has been severally nominated for award in the category of Aviation Writer of the Year by the Nigeria Media Nite-Out awards; one of the Nigeria’s most prestigious media awards ceremonies. Ifeoma is a one-time winner of the prestigious Nigeria Media Merit Award under the 'Aviation Writer of the Year' Category. She is the 2025 Eloy Award winner under the Print Media Journalist category. She has undergone several journalism trainings by various prestigious organisations. Ifeoma is also a fellow of the Female Reporters Leadership Fellowship of the Wole Soyinka Centre for Investigative Journalism.