Umuahia: The President of the Badminton Federation of Nigeria (BFN), Francis Orbih, has expressed excitement over the Abia Government’s significant investment in para-badminton.
Orbih spoke with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on the sidelines of the grand finale of the Fifth National Open Para-Badminton Championship, held at the International Conference Centre in Umuahia.
He expressed delight that “Abia has set an unprecedented standard for the development of the game”.
He also said that he was satisfied with the quality of the organisation and participation at the competition, saying that the nation had never had it so good.
The championship, which took place from July 14 to July 17, drew para-athletes from different states within the federation.
The BFN president said that Gov. Alex Otti’s massive
investment in para-badminton “is geared toward ensuring inclusivity not only in Nigeria, but also in Africa as a whole”.
He said that the governor had invested so much money, including the procurement of accessible buses for wheelchair users and special mats for wheelchair players, being the first of its kind in Africa”.
“As a federation, we are delighted with what has happened, in terms of organisation, quality of the games and others, and we hope that it will only get better.
“The world and African body, everybody is taking note of what Abia is doing for para-badminton,” Orbih said.
Meanwhile, the host state, Abia, retained its number one spot, emerging as the overall winner of the competition with five gold, five silver, and seven bronze medals.
Plateau came second with four gold, one silver and three bronze; Ogun placed third with three gold and two bronze.
Kwara came fourth with three gold, while Imo occupied the fifth position with one gold, five silver and three bronze.
Others were Rivers, sixth position with one gold, one silver and one bronze, followed by Kebbi with one gold and one silver.
Delta won one gold to place eighth, Akwa Ibom finished ninth with two silvers, while Bayelsa went home with one silver and four bronzes to finish 10th.
The rest were Lagos State, in 11th position, with one silver and one bronze, and Anambra placed 12th with one silver.
Taraba finished in 13th position with one bronze medal, while Ebonyi occupied the bottom of the table, winning no medals.
The First Abia Para Badminton International Championship to be hosted by Abia is scheduled to be held from Sept. 30 to Oct. 5, followed by the All Africa Para Badminton Championship from Oct. 6 to Oct. 12, according to an official statement.