IKPO IGBINOBA /Lagos
Founder of the Agatha Obiageli Aghedo Memorial Foundation, Mrs. Marian Akhere Akran
Nigeria’s university of first choice, University of Lagos (UNILAG) is on the threshold of sports history.
On April 21, the institution would be embracing Para-athletics when the sport for the physically challenged is formally presented to the university community.
The high point of the occasion scheduled to take place at the university’s sports complex in Akoka, Lagos will be a Wheelchair race competition.
Over 30 physically challenged athletes would jostle for prizes ranging from N50,000 to N200,000 on the occasion.
With few days to the event, excitement has reached a feverish pitch both in the university community and the physically challenged athletes’ community.
One of the facilitators of the event, Mr. Adebayo Aliyu, a renowned national coach for Para-athletics couldn’t conceal his excitement while speaking with PM Express at the weekend.
He gushed “I am very excited about this programme because it will change the story of sports for the physically challenged in this country.
“With UNILAG embracing sports for the disabled, other universities would follow suit and in no time our events would be part of the sports curriculum of the Ivory tower”.
“With this development”, Aliyu noted “Universities would be fulfilling the policy of inclusiveness which means that athletes who are physically challenged in their institutions would have a platform to exhibit their sporting talents”.
Aliyu said his dream is to have sports for the physically challenged in the schedule of the Nigeria Universities Games Association(NUGA).
“With the April 21 event at UNILAG, our NUGA dream will soon come true more so with UNILAG hosting NUGA Games later in the year”.
The facilitator was full of praise for the founder of the Agatha Obiageli Aghedo Memorial Foundation, Mrs. Marian Akhere Akran who he described as the “heart and soul of the project”.
According to him “Apart from being the sole financier of the championship, Mrs. Akran also came up with the idea of presenting special sports to the university.
“Though our partnership is only four months, it has been very fruitful. She has been very, very supportive of our programmes. I really don’t know how to express my gratitude to her for her kindness”.
Mrs. Akran has carved a niche for herself and foundation in the realm of advocacy for people with special needs and the less-privileged, empowering them through a range of intervention programmes and improving their standard of living.