First, I want to greet the Para athletes who have consistently brought glory to the nation over the years at various international tournaments including African, Commonwealth and Olympic Games.
A young girl from Kwara State came into the limelight in 2021 and her name is Eniola Bolaji, a para badminton athlete. I want to commend Kwara State Governor, Mallam AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq for creating an enabling environment for sports to thrive through the State Commission.
Since AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq became Governor of Kwara State, sports have enjoyed adequate funding and have not missed any National Youth Games, National Sports Festivals and National Para Games. The Badminton Federation of Nigeria led by Francis Orbih has not left any stone unturned in ensuring she attends the necessary championships.
Back to the main issue which is Eniola Bolaji, this young girl is performing wonders in Para Badminton and is on the verge of becoming a Paralympian and is sure of winning a medal at the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games.
Before the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, Bayelsa State Governor, Sen Douye Diri adopted 2x Commonwealth Champion, Blessings Oborodudu who eventually won the only silver medal for Nigeria at the Olympics Games. Another athlete who was adopted by the former Governor of Delta State, Senator Ifeanyi Okowo, Ese Brume won a bronze medal in the Long Jump event. These athletes were given the sum of 10,000 dollars before the Olympics as training grants which boosted their chances.
This is the right time for Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq to adopt Eniola Bolaji in order to place her amongst elite athletes in the country. I want to applaud the Kwara State Sports Commission led by Mallam Bolakale Mogaji for ensuring this young and promising athlete gets a job at the commission. It will go a long way in ensuring other athletes train hard and win more laurels for the country.
Eniola Bolaji will begin another journey at the Egypt International Badminton Championship from 22nd to 28th January, 2024. It is also compulsory for her to attend the 2024 World Para Badminton Championship in Thailand next February.
The question on my mind is how will this young girl finance her trip. Will she begin to beg people for flight tickets and other logistics or are we going to create a GoFundMe account? I strongly believe that the Governor is a listening man and those close to him will definitely brief him; sports is no longer recreation but Business.
For record purposes, Eniola Bolaji won gold at the Spanish Para Badminton in 2021, two gold medals for Kwara State at the National Badminton Championship in 2023
She gave Kwara State two gold medals at 2022 National Sports Festival, won gold at the 2023 All Africa Para Badminton Championship in Uganda and bagged another gold in at the 2023 Fazza Dubai Para Badminton Championship.
2024 is another year for her to put the name of Kwara in the world of Badminton. I hope that the State Government finalises this in order for her to stay focused ahead of the journey.
Lastly, special tribute to Late Bello Oyebanji for giving Eniola Bolaji the platform to shine. I am sure wherever he might be, he’ll be proud of her accomplishments.
Sporting Regards
Dare Kuti.
