Nigeria’s Paris 2024 Paralympic Summer Games gold and silver medalists, Onyi Mark and Ogechika Nwogu, respectively, have said disability doesn’t hinder self-actualisation.
Mark and Nwogu stated this at a 2024 Christmas Day celebration organised for inmates of Medium Security Custodial Centre, Umuahia, Abia State capital, by Global Compassion Coalition (GCC).
They stressed that the inmates should dream big and have faith in themselves to succeed in life even as they are incarcerated, adding that their ordeal will be over with time.
According to them, many people had either been persecuted or jailed, but they used the period to rejig their lives and became notable people after their release.
Urging them to decide now what they will become after their stay, the duo argued that if they had become world stars as persons living with disabilities, the inmates could also do the same.
In an address, Uwalaka Uchechukwu, the coordinator of the national chapter of the GCC, Compassion Coordinators Nigeria (CCN), expressed delight “with the joyous occasion.”
He explained that the GCC had, through many initiatives and outreaches, touched the lives of the inmates to show them a sense of belonging and renew their hope for a bright future after their release.
“We’ve done so much for them in line with our aims and objectives to ensure they are not by any means abandoned or neglected because of their present circumstances,” he asserted.
Uwalaka said the GCC has a prison project in the state known as the Compassion Champions Project, which, among other things, includes a football competition tagged “Compassion Cup” involving 16 clubs.
His words: “The final match is today between our club, the GCC Stars FC, and Alabama All Stars FC (both in the centre), and there are many prizes and consolation prizes to be won.”
The coordinator used the forum to laud individuals, religious groups, and non-governmental organisations such as Project Dorcas Foundation, “which had been partnering with us”.
Contributing, the immediate past leader of Umuahia North Legislative Council, Peter Iroegbu, urged the inmates to use their stay to reflect on their past lives and consider their future.
