The Nigerian delegates to the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games have called for more recognition and awareness by the Nigerian government.
They made this call during the first edition of the Gala Award Night on Friday October 25, 2024 at Sheraton Hotel, Ikeja, Lagos. Para-Power Lifting athlete, Oluwafemiayo Folashade affirmed that quality recognition of the Paralympic athletes will increase their performance.
“ This is the first edition ever in Nigeria history that Paralympic athletes will be recognized, it has never happened, this is the first one and we very much enjoyed it, I will say a big kudos to PCN president and the organizers of this program, God will continue to bless them, and we are looking forward for more of this from the government they should celebrate us, so that we will be happy, once we are celebrated we will be happy to bring more medals to the country, so we are appealing to the government to do their own celebration, this is the first edition and we appreciate it.
Oluwafemiayo further urged the Nigerian government to create awareness for PWD’s so that other people living with such conditions can be integrated into the sport industry.“I feel they should create more awareness because I believe there are some people out there that doesn’t know anything about this sport but when there is publicity and awareness, they will come in, and I am advising other people with disabilities that whenever they have a dream in their heart, they should follow it, they shouldn’t allow anybody to look down on them, though in the society we are not loved like others, but we should put all our efforts.” She said.
Senior Special Assistant to President Tinubu on disability matters, Hon. Muhammed Abba Isa appreciated Mr. President for his giant strides in the sports sector, especially the re-introduction of the National Sports Commission and appointing technocrat, Shehu Dikko as its director.
Hon. Muhammed further called on private and public institutions to support the Paralympic athletes saying the government is trying it’s possible best to uphold the community of people with disabilities, but supports from these institutions will go a long way.
“We are not only celebrating that they brought home the medals, but we are celebrating their resilience, despite their disabilities you can see how they are making Nigeria proud , but the challenges that we have in the Paralympics is the lack of support from various sectors, only the government cannot do everything, we need the support of the public and private sectors to support us, when they support us we will want to achieve more.
“ President Tinubu is trying his best for the sport sector and we can see that he just re-introduced the National Sports Commission and appointed a technocrat to lead the organization, which is a great achievement in the sport industry, but we need the support of other organizations to achieve our goals”
President of the Paralympics Committee Nigeria, Sunday Odebode, expressed his gratitudes to the participants of the event, saying the event was organized to celebrate, raise funds and give back to the Paralympic athletes who have given their all to Nigeria. Commissioner for Youth and Sports, Mobolaji Ogunlende affirmed that the Governor Sanwo-Ou administration is working acidulously to promote the message of inclusivity and social inclusion and gender equality.
“Our agenda for this administration, the theme sports agenda, social inclusion, gender equality, and the youth, ultimately to leave no one behind, irrespective of your background, your race, or your culture. Under my Ministry of Youth and Social Development, we have an agency called LASODA. That’s Lagos State Office of People Living with Disabilities, right? That is, I mean, one of the reasons why Mr. Governor has also sent me here today, because the agency is under my ministry. I’m also a supervisor to the sports commission. I perform a supervisory role, ultimately, as an administration, to leave no one behind.
“We also have a new DG of Lagos State Sports Commission, Mr. Lekan Fatodu, all of this is to show how we’re trying to revitalize the sporting commission in Lagos and ultimately, we have recognized that sports is a universal language for the youth, and we have a lot of youth that have a lot of talents, a lot of energy, and it is a way to bring them together and ensure that they don’t continue to lay around in Lagos and causing problems, so, these are some of the things we are doing as a government to ensure that everybody is fully involved in this movement.”
He said. Speaking with Bolaji Enola, Bronze Medalist in badminton at the 2024 Paralympic competition in Paris expressed her joy being the first Nigerian and African athlete to win an Olympic or Paralympic medal in badminton.
“It means a lot to me tonight because this is my first outing for Paralympic, so I feel so nice and it means a very, very big lot to me because I make records for the first badminton Paralympian with a medial in Nigeria, no Paralympian both Olympic and Paralympic, has done it before, I feel so good, I feel very honored.”
The Nigerian contingent to the 2024 Paralympic games in Paris secured a total number of 7 medals, wining 2gold, 3silver and 2bronze medals.
