By Teddy Nwanunobi
The Nigeria Deaf Sports Federation (NDSF) has insisted that the body was excluded from the National Sports Festival (NSF).
It made its position known in its response to the National Sports Commission (NSC)’s claim that it blackmailed the body over the exclusion of Deaf Sports from the NSF.
The commission had defended the exclusion through Michael Obasi, Special Assistant on Media to its Director General, Bukola Olopade.
Obasi said the commission was adopting an Olympic-style model in which federations must show consistent competitive activity in the states before qualifying for major events, adding that funding constraints also forced a reduction in the number of sports.
“Rather than blackmail the sports commission, they should make genuine arguments for their sport,” Obasi said.
Rejecting the NSC’s claim that it blackmailed the body over the exclusion of Deaf Sports from the NSF, the federation insisted that it has genuine arguments and facts to back its case.
The federation reacted in a statement signed by its President, Dagbo Suleiman Saka, on behalf of its board and athletes. It followed a protest by Deaf athletes in Lagos State on Monday over their exclusion from the festival, which holds in Enugu State from November 27 to December 11.
In its response, the federation said it had no reason to blackmail the commission.
“We have no reason to blackmail the NSC, a government institution we respect. We have shown extreme patience and understanding,” the statement read in part.
The federation said it welcomed Obasi’s challenge, and listed what it described as proof of its activity. It said it had organised the National Deaf Table Tennis Championships in Lagos, and the National Deaf Football Championship in Jos in the last two years. It added that it hosted and won the West Africa Deaf Athletics Championship and the West Africa Deaf Football Championship in Lagos and Abuja.
The federation also accused the commission of giving conflicting reasons for the decision. It said the Director General told the National Council on Sports meeting in Calabar that sports were pruned to follow international best practice and cut costs, but now cited inactivity.
On the claim that it was not active enough, the federation blamed lack of funding.
“How can a Federation organise more activities when we submitted our annual budget as requested by the NSC every year, yet not a single kobo is released to the Federation to organise any programme?” the statement read in part.
The federation also said Nigeria missed last year’s Tokyo Deaflympics because of a suspension by the International Committee of Sports for the Deaf over unpaid debts, and asked what happened to the Deaflympics budget.
On the commission’s call for engagement through official channels, the federation said it had exhausted all options. It said proposals for the fourth National Deaf Games, a Deaf sports manual and a plan to honour retired Deaf athletes were ignored. Saka said he had waited for hours at the Director General’s office on several occasions without being received.
“Deaf Sports has been on the Optional list since 1996,” the statement stated. It said the sport was moved to compulsory status in 2024 at the Calabar meeting, under the then Minister of Sports Development, John Enoh, and asked why the move was reversed without consultation.
The federation said the exclusion was even more painful because Para Sports received five compulsory and two optional sports for the Enugu festival, while Deaf Sports received none.
“Excluding us from our own National Sports Festival sends a very bad signal about Nigeria’s commitment to Equal Opportunity, Inclusion, and Human Rights to the international sports family,” the statement read in part.
It added that the Nigeria National Association of the Deaf, the Deaf Teachers Association of Nigeria, the Deaf Women Association of Nigeria and the Joint National Association of Persons with Disabilities had written to the commission to plead for inclusion but received no response.
The federation demanded the immediate reinstatement of Deaf Sports as a compulsory sport for the festival and asked why Athletics, Badminton and Table Tennis could not be merged with their Para and Deaf versions, as was done under previous Directors in the commission.