The Chairman, National Sports Commission, Shehu Dikko has assured the Nigeria Deaf Sports Federation of the commission’s support in upscaling deaf sports and providing a platform for athletes with special needs to express themselves, Sunday PUNCH reports.

Dikko gave the assurance while receiving an NDSF delegation led by its president Dagbo Saka at the NSC secretariat in Abuja on Friday.

“I congratulate you for the efforts you have been making to do what you love and live your passion despite your challenges. It shows your determination and belief in yourself. With more collaboration, I think we can be able to leave a lot of shared prosperity and hope between us and everyone involved,” Dikko said.

The NSC chairman revealed that budgetary provisions had been made for para sports development, including equipment and kits procurement to advance the sport.

“We are not just going to upscale the sport, we will set out to provide the needed platform for you to have that feel-good factor. We see it as a way to create jobs and help you earn a living,” he stated.

“We are here for sports generally. Sports is for everyone, men, women, people living with challenges. We are here for everyone. We are not showing preferences. We will definitely work to see that we resolve your immediate challenges as soon as possible.”

Dikko also highlighted President Bola Tinubu’s commitment to supporting people living with disabilities.

“The President is interested in giving everybody an opportunity. You know the President has a Special Adviser on disability matters or people living with challenges. That shows you how committed he is to the plight of people with disabilities, so we have to tag along. What we are doing with you here is actually a mandate from the President,” he added.

While commending the federation for their participation and success in international tournaments, the NSC boss urged them to expand their activities beyond national tournaments by organising developmental competitions across states.

He also requested the federation to submit their programme of activities for the year, in line with directives given to other sports federations.

Speaking on NSC Director-General Bukola Olopade’s commitment to para sports, Dikko said, “I want you to know that my DG is one of the best supporters of para sports. In his private capacity he had done so much for para sports. In fact, he had actually contested to be President of the Para Federation.

By Peter Akinbo