The Executive Secretary of the National Commission for People with Disabilities (NCPWD), Honourable Ayuba Burki Gufwan, has called for support, encouragement, and a good reward system for special athletes who are making Nigeria proud at international competitions, saying it will motivate them to strive even more.
Honourable Gufwan spoke with Sporting Tribune during the final of the 13th edition of the West Africa Deaf Football Championship (WADFC) which was held over the weekend at the MKO Abiola National Stadium Abuja between Nigeria Deaf Eagles and their The Gambia counterpart as Nigeria won the competition for the sixth time after winning 4-2 on penalties after the match ended 0-0 goal at regulation time.
He said the special athletes have delivered more, where the able-bodied have disappointed, saying the disabled athletes have brought more glory to Nigeria in terms of medals, especially at the Paralympics and other international competitions across the world.
The NCPWD boss emphasised the need for the government to create an enabling environment in terms of training equipment and facilities for the special athletes to thrive, adding that they should not be looked down upon as ordinary people.
“It’s a beautiful event. It’s the 13th edition of the West Africa Deaf Football Championship. We can see a wonderful display by both sides. This is to tell you that we’ve abundant talents in the disability community, and I’m very delighted that the tournament has come to an end on a very glamorous note.
“I think they (special athletes) need tremendous encouragement; they need support. We’ve done excellently well in the disability community when it comes to winning medals and laurels for the country. Even when we go for the Olympics and our able-bodied athletes come empty-handed, the Paralympians have always come back heavily loaded.
“They deserve all the encouragement. We need to create an enabling environment for them to thrive. They need good equipment for their training and preparation for such a tournament and of course, we need to up the reward system whenever medals and laurels are won in honour of the great country of Nigeria.
“We don’t need to treat them like persons with disabilities, no. A medal is a medal whether in the Olympics or the Paralympics. And as I said, we need to up the reward system after we have created an enabling environment for our Paralympians to do well. We look forward to a wonderful performance in the next Olympics and I can assure you that we’ll never let the country down,” Gufwan said.
While calling on sponsors to extend their support to the disability community, he said, “We need to do much better in the packaging of the Game so that we can draw the attention of critical stakeholders out there. I’m a little bit disappointed but I’m making a clarion call to sponsors to participate in this Game and help boost it up. We want the support given to the Super Eagles and the Super Falcons and other national teams to be extended to us too.”
Nigeria has won the WADFC a record six times; the first three editions in 2010, 2011 and 2013 and again in 2017 and 2024 and this latest triumph in 2025. Mall has also emerged as the winner three times in 2018, 2019 and 2023; Ghana two times, 2015 and 2016 and Togo once in 2014.
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