Para-athletes in Kwara state on Tuesday protested against the state government’s failure to redeem some of the pledges made to them before they attended the National Sports Festival in Asaba and National Para-games in Abuja in 2023.
During the peaceful protest, the physically challenged athletes also appealed to Governor Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq to employ them in order to improve their welfare and attract more glory to the state.
The special athletes led by Felix Olatunbosun Oyadinrin carried placards with various inscriptions to express their feelings, saying that all efforts to meet with the governor had not been successful.
The athletes, therefore, demanded that the pledge of awards and employment made before the National Sports Festival Asaba 2022 and Para-Games in Abuja 2023 be redeemed and their special monthly allocation paid.
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However, in an interview with Daily Trust, the Chairman of the state Sports Commission, Bolaji Magaji, said he doesn’t “know what the athletes’ protest was all about.
According to him, “We engaged them for the Para-games. The state government played its role by providing vehicles that took them there. We accommodated, fed and gave them allowances and returned them to Ilọrin.
“I personally promised to give the medalists money for gold, silver and bronze which I fulfilled. It was not the government. But they came back and said they were supposed to be given awards which were not part of our discussion at any point before their departure.
“All the same, they came to me and we wrote to the government for their hosting. The letter is yet to come but they came today that they want to go to the government house.
“I told them I cannot host them because I am not the government and the government did not promise them an award when they were leaving for the games”.
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