First Lady, Aisha Muhammadu Buhari, has described the Nigerian para-powerlifting team as one of champions for qualifying for the World Cup, and also the 2020 Paralympics.
She said this during a courtesy visit by the team and its officials to the Presidential Villa on Tuesday 26th November, 2019.
Aisha Buhari said the achievements of the team had brought glory to the country, leading to its nomination to host the para-powerlifting World Cup for three consecutive years (2020 – 2022).
Aisha Buhari, who is the host of the event, expressed optimism that the team would win again.
Speaking on the tournament taking place in February 2020, she said she was proud to be the chief host of the tournament and would do her best to ensure a hitch-free exercise.
She said Nigeria was always ready to showcase itself to the world, and called on all relevant agencies, the private sector and all Nigerians to support her in welcoming the world.
Speaking earlier, Chairman of the Organizing Committee of the competition, Dr. Mahmood Halilu Ahmed, said Nigeria secured the hosting rights of the competition on merit owing to the repeated successful outings of the team in various countries, sometimes winning most of the medals.
He recalled the decision by the Nigerian Para Powerlifting Federation to appoint the First Lady as the host of the tournament, expressing the confidence that she would deliver a successful exercise.
The President, Nigeria Para-powerlifting Federation, Mrs. Queen Uboh, spoke on the success story of the athletes as they travelled around the world winning laurels and bringing glory to Nigeria, saying it was important that Nigeria recognized their effort so that when they retired, they would never fall into destitution.
Uboh said the Federation had hatched a plan to raise funds for all retired powerlifting athletes and called on state governments to buy into the plan and support those from their states.
She said the acceptance by the First Lady to host the event was symbolic and would go a long way to bring the issue of Nigeria’s disabled to the discussion table.
