A key player in Nigeria’s amputee football national team, Special Eagles, Nnanna Nwakpa has revealed that the sport provides a very effective and productive alternative to street begging for physically challenged people.
Nwakpa made the declaration while speaking on ‘Hot Seat’ segment of Sports247’s weekly television programme, Inside Naija Sports, during which he highlighted various benefits of amputee football.
The Special Eagles’ defender began by pointing out that amputee football not only provides succour from emotional trauma that might affect physically challenged youths, it is also a huge source of excitement and entertainment for people who gather to watch their matches.
The smooth-talking player, who is also the founder of Phoenix Amputee Sports Club, described the game as therapeutic endeavour, then urged companies and philanthropists to sponsor it as part of their efforts in corporate social responsibility (CSR).
Nwakpa added, “If you see amputees around you, who stay on the streets to beg, looking as if they have come to the end of life, or thinking they have nothing to offer the society any longer, you can encourage them to come and join us.
“If they can’t play, they can come and watch us play. I am sure they, too, will get inspired in various ways. That’s because we always say this is a sport that goes beyond just football.
“It gives you a reason to think that no matter how down you are, no matter the negativity of life, or slump in your business, you can still stand up and make something out of it.
“In that same way, you can still make something out of disability … but we need corporate support to make it better. Whether it is CSR or investing in amputee football generally, companies should come out and give this sport more support.”
He concluded by revealing how his advent into amputee football helped him to stabilise himself psychologically and put his life back on course after he lost his left leg six years ago.
“Amputee football is therapeutic, and I have my personal experience in that respect. It healed me and helped me see a reason to keep living after I lost my leg about six years ago.
“Before then, I loved football naturally, and I watched a lot of matches. One day, I went to the stadium to watch an event in para-athletics, and I was surprised to see people playing football with crutches. I soon got interested in what they were doing.
“I later found out that Nigeria has a national team in amputee football, and that they had won silver at the Nations Cup in Angola. They had even gone to the Amputee Football World Cup.
“It wasn’t easy when I started but, because of the passion that I already had for football, I stayed focused and picked it up gradually.
“In less than two years, I got into the national team. Although I couldn’t go with them to the next Nations Cup in Tanzania, I was at the last one in Egypt, which qualified us for this year’s Amputee Football World Cup,” Nwakpa recounted.
He further told Sports247 that he is already looking forward to being part of the Special Eagles’ squad that will fly to South America for this year’s Mundial in November and hopefully return home with the trophy.
