The 12-day Paris 2024 Paralympic Games ended on September 8, 2024, with Team Nigeria finishing 40th in the overall medal table, winning seven medals – two gold, two silver and three bronze medals.
The seven Paralympics medals was a face-saving performance over the zero-medal table of Nigeria’s woeful outing at the XXXIII Olympic Games, the 2024 Paris Olympics. The embarrassment of returning empty-handed, which was wiped away by the Paralympians means that the able-bodied athletes should still be ashamed of themselves for their lacklustre performance.
Yet, the two gold medals are Nigeria’s worst outing since the Games debut at the 1992 Summer Paralympics in Barcelona, Spain, where with just six athletes, it finished at 21st position with three gold medals, two silver and three bronze.
At Atlanta 96 Paralympics, Nigeria won three gold, two silver, and three bronze medals with eight athletes while at Sydney 2000, Nigeria won seven gold, one silver and five bronze medals, a total of 13 medals.
Generally, the Paralympians have performed better as the Olympians have managed a paltry 27 medals (three gold, 11 silver and 13 bronze) in 18 appearances since its debut in the 1952 Summer Olympics in Helsinki, Finland. The Paralympians amassed 80 medals (40 gold, 19 silver and 21 bronze) in only nine appearances.
We at the Daily Trust commend the Paralympians for succeeding where their able-bodied colleagues failed woefully. This may have been their worst outing since the inception of the Games, but it mirrors the disastrous outing of the Team Nigeria Olympics bedeviled by bureaucratic shoddiness, shabby and late preparations and fire brigade approach, epileptic government and private sector investment and support. That it registered on the medal table and came 40th is a commendable feat.
Therefore, this is the time to prepare for the 18th Summer Paralympic Games at Los Angeles in 2028. There should be early training and preparation along with sustained government and private sector funding of infrastructure development, and professionalism.
We also call for a halt to the discrimination against the Paralympic Team. This has been so glaring. The Olympians have continued to enjoy adequate attention despite their underwhelming performance.
For example, at the 2024 Games, the Ministry of Sports secured N9 billion for the 88 Olympics contingent and N3 billion for the 35-member Paralympics team.
The discrimination went beyond budgetary allocation. For the Paralympians, their cash reward was a mockery of their patriotism and accomplishments with the two gold medalists, Onyinyechi Mark and Folashade Oluwfemiayo receiving $1,500 each; the three silver medalists, Bose Omolayo, Flora Ugwunwa and Nworgu Esther, $1000 each; while the two winners of bronze medals, Isau Ogunkunle and Eniola Bolaji, got a paltry $500 each. And for those who failed to win medals, while they were budgeted to receive $100 each, the technical crew members had $1,000 each.
Meanwhile, the Olympics athletes were promised $5,000 for gold, $3,000 for silver and $2,000 for bronze, which they never even got to take because of zero-medal accomplishments.
The Minister of Sports, Senator John Owan Enoh, should put an end to this ridiculous disparity in the rewards system as part of the reviews to be carried out in the Sports sector. These Paralympians defy physical challenges to bring laurels to the nation. Therefore, there should be no bases for such discriminatory reward system.
It is heartwarming that on Sunday, September 14, 2024, First Lady, Senator Oluremi Tinubu, hosted the Team Nigeria Paralympians at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, announcing a largess for them, especially for gold medalists Onyinyechi Mark and Folashade Oluwafemiayo who would pocket N33 million each. The silver medalists received N16 million each, while the bronze medal winners took home N8 million each.
We at Daily Trust believe that if we have deliberate policies towards designing templates and implement strategies towards winning medals, the next Paralympics will be Nigeria’s best outing.
Moreover, the Paralympics Committee of Nigeria (PCN) should go beyond presenting athletes in only four out of the 22 events at the Games. They should participate in more to be in the position to compete for the 549 medal events up for grabs at the Games.
We implore the minister of Sports to use the “underwhelming performance” of Team Nigeria and the lowest performance for the Paralympic team as impetus to ensure the competition readiness of every athlete towards winning laurels. There is an abundance of talents in Nigeria that can make the nation proud.
The extraordinary dedication, resilience and achievements exhibited by the Paralympians showcased the highest standard of sportsmanship. They should be supported for greater accomplishments.
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