The Nigeria Paralympic Committee (NPC) has described paralympic gold medalists as true heros.
It praised President Goodluck Jonathan for the national honours and the monetary gifts to members of the paralympic team to the London 2012 Paralympic Games.
The six gold medalists were given N5 million each and national honours of Member Order of the Niger (MON).
The five silver medalists received N3 million, while the two bronze medalists bagged N2 million each for their outstanding performance at the Games.
Those who participated but could not win medals were also given N500,000 each.
The Committee’s Secretary-General, Dr Frank Thorpe, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos on Monday that that gesture by the president was encouraging.
He said the fact that the committee would be invited to participate in a national retreat to appraise Nigeria’s participation in the Olympics Games would be a departure from past practice.
“The President has shown that he is a man of the people, of grassroots. When he hosted us (Paralympians) in 2010, I was there and when he was coming in I was trying to clear the disabled athletes to move so that he can pass, but he said ‘no! no! don’t touch them; I will find my way’. It is good to have character.
“And that single act he did always push me to work hard; it’s not easy working with these people; but for a president to show compassion, it shows understanding and that gives us the strength to continue.
“The whole programme was highly elating and I was very happy; all the athletes and officials were very elated. The monetary aspect was there; but beyond that; the recognition.
“He said during the programme that he was going to have a retreat that would involve all stakeholders. That has never been done before. So, I think we are charting a new path.
“All these ‘fire brigade approach’ we’ve been doing has not worked well. We have done well, but other countries are preparing seriously for Rio Olympics; so we shouldn’t be left behind.”
Torpe appealed to all stakeholders to ensure early preparations for international competitions to enable the country’s representatives to perform well as other countries.
He said the committee would like to introduce other sports, in which the country had potential.
He, however, said that the committee would need the right infrastructure to be able to prepare the athletes well.
In a statement in Abuja, a pro-democracy group, Conscience Nigeria, said Jonathan heeded the call by Nigerians for him to reward and honour the paralympians.
The Executive Director of the NGO, Mr Tosin Adeyanju, described the president as a “humble and listening leader’’.
It noted that by the gesture, the president had encouraged the physically challenged sportsmen and women to do more in their career.
Adeyanju said: “The honour will no doubt go a long way to revive the sports sector and restore its lost glory.
“We are delighted by the President’s timely response; Jonathan deserves commendation from well meaning Nigerians.
“We are particularly happy that the president listened to our call that the Paralympians be given national honour, while the team as a whole is rewarded for excelling.’’
