What we want from President Jonathan

By  Ben Efe, London
After raking in an unprecedented six gold medals at the London 2012 Paraympics Games, Nigerian Paralympians have listed a litany of demands, which they expect President Goodluck Jonathan to meet as they await compensation  for their heroic efforts at the Games.

The camp of Team Nigeria remained in a jubilant mood as the powerlifters lived up to expectations in London, where their able-bodied counterparts failed to win a single medal in August.

Yakubu Adesokan of Nigeria shows off his gold medal after setting a new world record during the Men’s 48kg Powerlifting on Day 1 of the London 2012 Paralympic Games at ExCel

The Paralympians who were the toast of the spectators who graced the London ExCel Centre venue are regarding themselves as super heroes and according to them, they deserve more than just a mention when they come back home.

“I want the President to first of all give us a resounding reception when we get back home. And after that he should begin to address the issues hindering the development of Paralympics sports in Nigeria.

“We know what we go through during our training. Imagine our situation in Nigeria when as disabled people we have to struggle to get transportation back home, because we cannot get into the regular buses, we have to take taxis and we spend more money than our other colleagues,” said Grace Anozie, gold medallist in the women +82kg category

Veteran, Victoria Nneji who won Nigeria’s only bronze medal minced no words. “When we were coming here they begged us to spare Nigeria the embarrassment of not winning a medal. They said we must deliver and now we have delivered, so they must give us the honour that befits our achievements,”

Silver medallist, Folasade Oluwafemiayo stated that the government must put more money in Paralympics sports. She submitted that there were a lot of equipment that they need, most especially in other events like track and field.

“There are a lot of people like me who would want to go into sport but they don’t have money. The President must take interest in our sports. We need to go on coaching courses, we need to train our officials so that we don’t get cheated at international events just like was done to me.”