A call has gone out to President Ahmed Bola Tinubu to give amputee football more attention, in order to provide physically challenged Nigerians inspiration to achieve good things in life despite their disability, Sports247 reports.
This charge was given by Nnanna Nwakpa, a defender in the Nigerian amputee football national team, Special Eagles, which has been largely overlooked, though they recently qualified for the global championship after excelling at the Nations Cup in Egypt.
Nwakpa disclosed this while speaking on the latest edition of Inside Naija Sports television programme, during which he also called on corporate bodies and well-placed Nigerians to give their hands of support to amputee football, as part of their contributions to community service responsibility.
Nwakpa, who is also the founder of Phoenix Amputee Sports Club, added during ‘Hot Seat’ segment of the widely syndicated TV programme that all stakeholders in the football game that allows ability in disability should take the bull by the horn and speak out for themselves.
He affirmed during the 30-minute television programme from the stable of Sports247, “We need to do more in terms of publicity and we also need more attention from people in government.
“It’s not just amputee football that is overlooked in Nigeria. There are so many other events that are being neglected because people call them lesser sports.
“Nigerians are doing well in those events, but the necessary publicity and awareness is not there. That’s why we have to keep talking about amputee football.
“We have to talk with more individuals, corporate bodies and government about supporting amputee football. Government, in particular, has to do something better about amputee football.”
He went on to pointedly mention the need for President Tinubu to lead by example in giving the sport a major lift, considering that the national team will be heading to South America for the Amputee Football World Cup in November.
“If I had an opportunity to meet President Tinubu one-on-one, I would simply tell him to give amputee football more attention.
“We have so many lessons that can be learnt from participating in this sport. It’s not just about kicking a ball on the field; it involves people who refuse to be held down by their disability.
“We are people who pick up ourselves and refuse to be held down by circumstances that have affected us physically. Amputee football is giving us the platform to be useful to ourselves, our community and our country,” Nwakpa asserted.
