Federation Elections: Wheelchair Tennis Community Endorses Akindoju For 2nd Term

IKPO IGBINOBA 
With federation elections likely to come up later in the year, the President of the Nigeria Tennis Federation, NTF, Mr. Dayo Akindoju has been endorsed for a second term by the Wheelchair tennis community.

Elections into federations’ boards are expected to come up later in the year as the tenure of the present dispensation ends in June. The last elections were held in May 2016 and the boards were inaugurated in June.

Akindoju did not get the very crucial endorsement of the wheelchair community on a platter of gold. He earned it by changing the pathetic narrative of the sector.

It would be recalled that few months into his presidency, Akindoju was accused by the wheelchair players of dumping them after riding to power on the strength of their support. 

In his response, Akindoju promised to address the challenges confronting the sector.Three years on, Akindoju has fulfilled his promises and secured the support of the wheelchair tennis base.Head of  Wheelchair Tennis on the board of the NTF, Mr. Lateef Shodipo said in an exclusive interview that Akindoju with his achievements so far  has done better than his predecessors.

According to him “Wheelchair tennis has never had it so good as under the present dispensation. Our players had more competitions at home and abroad and also participated in Tokyo 2020 Olympics qualifiers”.

Aside more ccompetitions, Shodipo noted that wheelchair community took its rightful place in the administration of the sport. He said “The icing on the cake is that we were given our rightful place on the board of the federation. We now have one of our own, which is me on the board of the federation. Previous boards treated us like some second class citizens and denied us of our position on the board. All that has changed now”.

Shodipo stressed that the Akindoju presidency has given them a sense of belonging.

He declared “His (Akindoju) presidency has given us a sense of belonging. We all are very pleased with him. He has done well”.

When asked whether Akindoju had done enough to get a second term, Shodipo responded “Of course, he deserves a second term. The wheelchair community will give him maximum support whenever the elections come up,” he said.