Despair to glory: Nigeria’s para-athletes’ journeys from hospital beds to podiums

2024 Paralympics athletes with wife of the President, Remi Tinubu

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Survival, not sports, was their first contest. Scarred by rejection, abandonment and near-death experiences, Nigerian para-athletes defied society’s limits and rejection to rise on the world stage, conquering pain and prejudice to claim glory for their country, writes PETER AKINBO

The weights crashed down with a metallic clang that echoed through the sweaty gymnasium at the National Stadium, Surulere, Lagos.

But four-time world champion Folashade Oluwafemiayo readjusted her position on the bench, her powerful arms glistening under the fluorescent lights as she prepared for another lift. Around her, para-athletes and able-bodied weightlifters shared the cramped space, their grunts of exertion forming a symphony of determination.

It was a humid afternoon when our correspondent visited, and the air inside felt thick enough to chew. But nothing — not the heat, not the worn equipment, not even the scars of a doping suspension that once threatened to end her career — could dampen the fire in Oluwafemiayo’s eyes.

Oluwafemiayo is a two-time heavyweight Paralympic gold medalist and world record holder who keeps shattering her own records as if challenging the universe itself.

“I need some air,” the 2022 Commonwealth Games gold medallist said later, her voice carrying the weight of someone who had lifted more than just barbells.

Outside the training hall, away from the clanging iron and sweat-soaked mats, she told our correspondent her story.

“My parents did not believe I could do powerlifting,” she told The PUNCH, emotion flooding her voice. “They were very supportive with my condition when I was growing up, yes, but when I told them I wanted to lift weights, they said no. They thought ‘as a physically challenged person, you should only do sitting jobs.’”

Three thousand kilometres away in Abeokuta, 38-year-old Isau Ogunkunle was grinding through his daily table tennis drills, sweat dripping onto the worn table.

A former shoemaker who stumbled into para-sports by accident, he’d recently made history as the first Nigerian to win an individual para-table tennis medal since Sydney 2000. Yet, despite his Paris 2024 bronze medal, the only African to medal in his event, he still walks distances to training when transport money runs low.

Stories forged in pains

Disability arrives in countless forms, each carrying its own devastation. Sometimes it comes at birth, an unexpected beginning to a life that society will constantly diminish. Sometimes it strikes suddenly, changing everything in a heartbeat.

Dr Felix Faniran, a retired Director of Physiotherapy and Medical Rehabilitation at the Obafemi Awolowo University Teaching Hospital, explains that disability can arise from numerous causes.

“Broadly, these causes can be grouped into genetic and congenital conditions present at birth, such as Down Syndrome or cerebral palsy; pregnancy and birth-related complications like poor antenatal care or birth asphyxia; diseases and infections, including poliomyelitis, stroke, and meningitis; accidents and injuries from road traffic crashes, falls, or violence; negligence and poor safety practices; aging and degenerative conditions like arthritis; and environmental and social factors such as malnutrition, poverty, and poor access to healthcare,” Dr Faniran told The PUNCH.

Before she would win gold in the women’s F54 javelin throw at the 2016 Rio Paralympics, Flora Ugwunwa was already walking at seven months — a precocious, energetic toddler brimming with life. Then, at the age of two, she developed a fever. Alarmed, her mother rushed her to the hospital, unaware that the moment would alter the course of her daughter’s life forever.

“According to my mum, instead of the doctors calming down my fever first, they gave me an injection like that, and that paralysed my two legs,” the 37-year-old recalled, still processing the senselessness of it all.

“I walked into the hospital on my own. But here we are today, because of the mistake of some medical personnel, I cannot walk with my two legs again.”

Medical negligence, a tragedy that could have been prevented, a life permanently altered by someone else’s error, sums up Ugwunwa’s life journey.

For Esther Nworgu, now 23, there was not even an explanation. At eight years old, her legs simply stopped working.

“I wasn’t sick. I just slumped, and that was it,” she said. “My parents tried their best to help me regain my mobility, both medically and through prayers. Nothing worked.”

No polio. No injection. No accident. Just a little girl who collapsed one day and never walked again. Doctors couldn’t tell her family why.

Nworgu would go on to win silver in the women’s 41kg para-powerlifting event at Paris 2024 — competing with a dislocated shoulder and finishing just one kilogramme behind China’s defending champion Cui Zhe.

Sodiq Ajibade’s life changed in a flash. One moment, he was trying to keep the peace; the next, he was blind.

Two friends were fighting. He stepped in to separate them. A plank swung for one man struck Ajibade’s eye instead, shattering his world.

The pain did not stop there. Rushed to the hospital, a fatal error followed, leaving him completely blind, Ajibade told The PUNCH.

“The nurse used a needle on my second eye,” he said in broken English, his voice heavy with grief. “That is how I became a blind man.”

Crushed by despair, Ajibade once tried to end his life. But fate intervened. He would later defy the darkness, making history in the men’s up to 98kg Blind SAMBO category (SVI‑1) by winning a bronze medal — the first ever by an African at the World Championships.

“I tried to commit suicide, I wanted to die,” he said simply. “I swallowed six batteries at once just to end my life.”

Despair to direction

For people with disabilities, sports offer far more than competition; it provides hope, purpose, and a path back to dignity. In a world where exclusion and stigma often shape daily life, sports restore agency—turning physical limitation into possibility and personal struggle into collective pride. Through training and competition, athletes reclaim self-worth, forge community, and prove that disability does not diminish ambition, talent, or the right to dream.

Pulled back from the brink of suicide, Ajibade discovered a new lease on life through sports. He would go on to become the first African to win a medal in the men’s +98kg Blind SAMBO category (SVI-1, for totally blind sambists) at the World Championships.

A concerned neighbour introduced him to a stadium in Lagos.

“It was one of my neighbours who told me about sports and took me to the stadium to start with them,” he recalled.

Within a few years, Ajibade was mastering sambo, a demanding Russian martial art, despite total blindness. After his historic victory, his joy was palpable:

“I’m so happy. I’m feeling good. I’m happy. I’m happy. I’m happy!” he repeated.

“First of all, I thank my God. I thank my coach. My coach made everything easy for me.”

Similarly, Folashade Oluwafemiayo was introduced to powerlifting by her uncle in 1999. The first week was agonising.

“There must be pains, you will feel the pains,” she told our correspondent.

“If you don’t have the endurance, you will not go back.”

She nearly quit. Then her coach started showing up at her house every day.

“He said, ‘You can do it, let’s go there. At least you can see so many ladies who are still doing it.’ That’s how I went back.”

By 2012, she was competing at the Paralympics, and while pregnant, she won silver and broke a world record.

Isau Ogunkunle was repairing shoes in Abeokuta in 2010, barely surviving, when a gymnastics coach approached him.

“At that time, I had no idea that sports for people with disabilities existed,” he said.

The coach took him to a stadium. He saw people with disabilities playing table tennis. He got hooked instantly.

His first international tournament came just a year later, and he won bronze at the 2011 African Championship despite minimal experience.

For 20-year-old Eniola Bolaji, Africa’s first Olympic/Paralympic badminton medallist, the path to greatness began almost by chance.

Days before her 13th birthday, a swimming coach spotted her by a poolside in Ilorin and introduced her to the late Bello Oyebanji, who would become her mentor, advocate, and saviour. When she couldn’t afford equipment, he bought it. When the gruelling early weeks made her want to quit, he wouldn’t allow it. When funding threatened to end her career, he fought tirelessly to secure sponsorships.

“God used him to make everything work,” Bolaji said, her voice breaking. “He was like a father to me. I will never forget him in my lifetime.”

Unfortunately, Oyebanji didn’t see her win bronze at Paris 2024 – the first African to claim a medal in badminton at any Olympics or Paralympics – before he died. But his fingerprints are all over her triumph.

The price of glory

Last November, Ajibade was on the podium in Kyrgyzstan, a bronze medal glinting against his chest, tears rolling down his face. The same young man who had once swallowed six batteries in a desperate bid to end his life had now risen to make history as Africa’s first blind Sambo world championship medalist.

“My late elder sister supported me,” he said when asked who helped him survive.

Sports saved him. His sister’s love saved him. And now he’s making history.

The path from despair to podium demands more than talent or determination, and from these athletes, it demands even more. It requires navigating a society that views disability as a shame, a sports system that treats para-athletes as afterthoughts, and conditions that would break most able-bodied athletes.

Isau Ogunkunle lived it daily.

“One of the biggest issues was transportation,” he told The PUNCH.

“I lived far from the stadium, and there were times when I did not have enough money to pay for transport. I would walk long distances just to make it to training.”

When he arrived, he often trained without a coach, without quality equipment. “There was no consistent financial backing,” he said. “I had to do a lot on my own.”

Also, Bolaji, training in Ilorin as the only para-athlete among able-bodied players, endured constant mockery.

“Most times I walk to training halfway before getting a cab to the stadium,” she said in a 2022 interview with The PUNCH.

“I hear a lot of very demoralising comments during training sessions. They tell me I can do something better with my life other than coming for training, jumping around, and playing badminton.”

The discrimination extends beyond training facilities.

One incident still haunts Esther Nworgu. Her sister-in-law, who knew her story, watched her walk by and asked, “Ogechi, why are you walking like that?”

“It pained me because she knew about my predicament,” Nworgu said in tears.

Roland Ezuruike, the veteran powerlifter, watched drivers grow impatient as he boarded vehicles.

“Moving around was another challenge because drivers do not have enough patience to pick us,” the 49-year-old said.

Yet these ‘special’ ones persist.

Oluwafemiayo trains in that cramped, sweaty gym in Surulere, sometimes in Ogun State, alongside able-bodied lifters. Ogunkunle grinds through drills on worn tables in Abeokuta. Bolaji ignores the mockers and shows up daily.

Nworgu has a mantra that keeps her battling.

“It’s only my legs that are affected,” she said firmly. “Other parts of my body are strong.”

When champions are made

Paris 2024. September 6. La Chapelle Arena. The women’s +61kg para powerlifting final.

Twenty-four-year-old Onyinyechi Mark had been solid through her earlier lifts, but when she powered up 147kg on her final attempt, the arena exploded. A Paralympic record. The gold was effectively secured, yet Mark wanted more. She reset, drew a deep breath, and let out a roar. The bar rose. The crowd fell silent. Then she locked it out — 150kg. A world record. Gold medal. Nigeria’s first medal of the Paris 2024 Paralympics.

“I’ve worked so hard to be in these Games today,” she told reporters afterwards, still buzzing with adrenaline.

“My expectation was for me to win my gold. I came here today to win, I did it; I’m so happy.”

Less than an hour later, she was already planning, thinking ahead, “I will train harder to make sure I will get my gold back again in LA 2028.”

That same day, just hours earlier, Nworgu had stepped onto the platform for the women’s 41kg event. Her right shoulder was heavily strapped; she’d dislocated it two days prior, and doctors had urged her not to compete.

She competed anyway. Most watching would say she was lifting with one arm; she pressed 113kg to finish one kilogram behind defending champion Cui Zhe of China.

She won a silver medal with a dislocated shoulder.

“I was so emotional because I never expected any medal from this competition,” she said, tears streaming down her face. “There is no adjective I can use to quantify my happiness right now. It is like heaven to me.”

After the medal ceremony, she collapsed to the ground with her coach, both women overcome with emotion.

Three days later, Oluwafemiayo stepped up for the women’s over 86kg category. Already a two-time Paralympic champion (Rio 2016, Tokyo 2020), she was chasing history. She lifted 167kg—breaking her own world record.

Gold. Third consecutive Paralympic medal. One of the world’s most dominant lifters.

The victories kept coming. Ugwunwa threw 19.26m in javelin to win silver—her third consecutive Paralympic medal (Rio gold, Tokyo silver, Paris silver).

Bolaji defeated Ukraine’s Oksana Kozyna in straight sets—21-9, 21-9—to become Africa’s first Olympic or Paralympic badminton medalist.

Ogunkunle, the former shoemaker, became the first Nigerian since Sydney 2000 to win an individual para table tennis medal.

But perhaps the most emotionally charged moment came in Paris’s quarterfinals when Ogunkunle faced Thomas Massima of France—a player who’d beaten him twice before, including at Tokyo 2020 and again in Italy 2023.

Indeed, the third time was the charm.

“I was already preparing for another tough loss,” Ogunkunle admitted. “But coach Nasiru Sule pulled me aside and broke down the game strategy: how to anticipate Massima’s serves, when to switch to offensive play, and how to read his spin.”

Ogunkunle followed every instruction. In front of over 37,000 French fans, he defeated Massima.

“I cried tears of joy after winning,” he told The PUNCH. “My teammates fasted for me. I was exempted from fasting as the ‘main actor.’”

The Paris Paralympics ended with Nigeria claiming seven medals—two gold, three silver, and two bronze. Compare that to their able-bodied counterparts at the Olympics: zero medals.

Cries for greater rewards

When Nigeria’s para-athletes returned from Paris 2024, First Lady Oluremi Tinubu received them at the Presidential Villa in Abuja.

“Today, we celebrate not just the medals, but the spirit of resilience that defines our athletes,” she said. “Your names will be written in the annals of history as champions.”

It was a warm reception, full of praise and recognition.

The President of the Paralympic Committee of Nigeria, Sunday Odebode, said that all athletes received cash payments before they left Paris.

He reiterated that there was no single problem with the payment of the athletes’ entitlements.

“The athletes were fully paid all dues. From the PCN, gold medalists received $1,500, silver medalists $1,000, and bronze medalists $500.

Those who did not win medals, along with their officials, received $100 each. In addition, the technical crew was rewarded with $1,000 for their efforts,” Odebode stated.

He also noted that the federal government, through the Ministry of Sports, granted additional cash rewards—$15,000 for gold medalists, $10,000 for silver, and $5,000 for bronze.

Compared to the United States, Paralympic medalists received $37,500 for gold, $22,500 for silver, $15,000 for bronze—identical to Olympic medalists. Additionally, every Team USA Olympian and Paralympian now receives at least $200,000 in post-retirement benefits, with amounts multiplying for multi-Games participants.

Turkey offers up to $500,000 for Paralympic gold. Even countries like Rwanda, Bosnia Herzegovina, Iran, and Iraq invest heavily in Paralympics, providing world-class facilities and structured development pathways.

Ugwunwa posed a question on Facebook in February 2024, before Paris, “Recently, we saw how Super Eagles were honoured by our Nigerian president… how banks and other companies showered them with dollars for winning silver… where have the para athletes gone wrong in representing their own country? Is it because they are persons with disability?”

Nigeria’s para-athletes, meanwhile, train in cramped gyms with worn equipment, walk distances when transport money runs low, and return from world championships to find their able-bodied counterparts—who won fewer or no medals—receiving significantly more attention and reward.

“I’m a champion, but when you see me along the road, I’m not looking like a champion,” para powerlifting champion Abdulazeez Ibrahim told Voice of America in 2019.

“But go abroad, you see their champions. They’re disabled, see their lives, see their cars. It’s different. Every day, we always make Nigeria proud, and they don’t make us proud. Why?”

Queen Uboh, former president of Nigeria’s para powerlifting federation, put it simply, “If they can give 10 per cent of the attention they give to soccer or football to para powerlifting or para sports, I think that’s a good start.”

Sheriff Hammed, who serves as the Vice President of Nigeria’s Sambo Association, sees the broader picture.

“The reality is that Nigeria’s special athletes continue to perform miraculous feats on the global stage with only a fraction of the support they deserve,” he said.

“They are some of our greatest ambassadors, yet their preparation environment is often the toughest. These athletes are not looking for sympathy; they are asking for structure, inclusion, and equal investment.

“When we empower them with proper facilities, funding, and developmental programs, they don’t just compete, they make Nigeria proud.”

Beyond the podium

The impact of these athletes extends far beyond medals. They are reshaping how Nigerians view disability, proving that limitations exist primarily in minds, not bodies.

Nworgu captured this philosophy perfectly: “I don’t like using ‘d-i-s’ in my ability, I like using ‘t-h-i-s’ in my ability. When there is disability, there is ability, and what people see as ‘disability’ is not what I see. I see it as strength and ability.”

She’s launched a campaign called “One Facility, One Ramp,” pushing for every bank, mall, church, and mosque to install wheelchair ramps.

Ugwunwa has made an even more radical peace with her disability.

“One thing about me is that I don’t see disability in a bad light, though some see it as a curse,” she said. “To me, disability is a blessing. I don’t even pray to get up from this wheelchair. Sometimes, I hear my lovely husband praying that I should be able to walk again. I would just tell him to change the prayer point.”

From that wheelchair, she’s won Olympic gold, set world records, gotten married, had children, and built businesses in baking and shoemaking.

Omolayo, who left home at 15 after her family rejected her, is now married to a pastor with three children—the very things her family said she’d never have. She’s built a house, built a church, and plans to organise para sports competitions when she retires.

“My family, who once rejected me, are now happy for me,” she said.

“They are close to me now.”

Ogunkunle dreams of returning to shoemaking, too, but as an entrepreneur rather than a struggling craftsman. “I want to use what I’ve earned from sports to build something sustainable,” he said.

For the younger athletes like Mark, Bolaji, and Nworgu, all in their early twenties, the future burns bright.

These athletes are living proof that when the human spirit is tested beyond what seems bearable, it does not merely survive — it rises and soars.

Peter, who has been covering sports for PUNCH for close to two years, focuses on combat sports reporting, special features and human angle stories

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