Kwara’s para-athletes protest unpaid allowances, demand employment

Kwara’s special sports athletes on Tuesday in Ilorin urged Gov. Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq to pay the money owed them for about two years now.

The para-athletes, while staging a peaceful protest to the Kwara Government House in Ilorin, also said they needed to be employed.

They later told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) that being employed would help to uplift them in the area of welfare and help them to bring more glory to the state.

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Led by Felix Oyadinrin, who is one of them and Vice-Chairman (North Central) of the Nigeria Wheelchair Basketball Federation, the para-athletes carried placards with various inscriptions to express their feelings.

They said all efforts to meet with the state governor had not been successful.

The para-athletes asked for payment of their awards for both the 2022 National Sports Festival (NSF) in Asaba and the Para Games in Abuja in 2023.

“We are asking as well for a special monthly allocation for our welfare,” the athletes told NAN.

“We have helped to boost the standing of the state among the others at the sports level, and on numerous occasions, we were given promises which were not fulfilled.

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”Meanwhile, many of us have given nothing but exceptional services to the state in terms of sports and we have nothing to show for it in our lives and that of our family.

“On many occasions, we have organised seminars for people living with disabilities and this was done to encourage them.

“It is a shame that all these efforts are wasted because there is no support from the state government,” Oyadinrin added.

The para-athletes, however, commended the administration of Gov. Abdulrazaq on sports development in the state. (NAN)