As Nigeria's Paralympians return from Rio after their most successful ever Games, BBC Sport's Oluwashina Okeleji examines the country's extraordinary dominance in powerlifting and asks what lessons the flailing national football team could learn from their success.
Nigeria closed the Rio Paralympics with eight golds, two silvers and two bronze medals to finish 17th in the medal table and top among African countries.
Compare that with the performance of Nigeria's able-bodied Olympians a few weeks earlier, who brought home just one bronze medal, finishing a lowly 78th in the Rio 2016 medal table.
Nigeria's Paralympians, who first competed in Barcelona in 1992, have always outperformed the Olympians.
At the London Olympics four years ago, the green and white flag was never hoisted at a medal ceremony.
In contrast, the Paralympic team returned home with 13 medals.
Their success is all the more remarkable when you consider the difficulty and discrimination that many disabled people face in Nigeria.
For Nigerians hoping to catch a medal-winning Paralympian moment this summer, there was one sport worth tuning in for: powerlifting.
The flurry of medals (six gold, two silver, one bronze) won in this "supreme test of upper-body strength and technique", as the organisers describe it, accounted for all but three of Nigeria's Paralympic medals.Image copyrightREUTERSImage captionRoland Ezuruike also took gold in the Men's 54kg powerlifting
For anyone baffled by this national powerlifting prowess, a single name is often given by way of explanation: Are Feyisetan.
Dubbed "king of the physically challenged", Nigeria's national powerlifting coach is a passionate advocate for disabled sport.
A former champion power lifter himself, Feyisetan also formed the national amputee football team in 2002.
Powerlifting, he tells me, is more than just a sport for those he trains. It provides "an opportunity to pull these athletes away from stigmatisation and help them in conquering poverty".
"People expect a disabled person to beg on the streets but they are breaking those stereotypes. Many people forget that some of these guys had a normal life before accidents crippled them - so they turn to powerlifting to forge another life."Image copyrightGETTY IMAGESImage captionThis was Nigeria's seventh appearance at the Paralympics
The remarkable success of Nigeria's powerlifters comes despite poor training facilities and a lack of financial backing.
Much of the country's Paralympic infrastructure, dating back to 1990, has seen better days.
"Financial support from big brand companies is less forthcoming because they are all interested in football.
"If we are not careful some of these athletes celebrating gold medals today could turn to begging in the next few years - they grow older and feel used and abandoned. We need to stop that trend."Image copyrightPAImage captionLauritta Onye celebrating in style after winning shot put gold, one of the few-non powerlifting medals for Nigeria
Football is the number one sport in Nigeria and support for the national team is probably the one thing that pulls Nigerians together irrespective of ethnicity, religion or politics.
The contrast between the country's football team and its Paralympians could not be more stark.
Even with millions of dollars poured into the national effort every year, Nigeria has now failed to qualify for the Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) twice in a row, despite having the continent's largest population by far.
Considering Nigeria reached the Round of 16 at the 2014 World Cup and were Afcon champions as recently as 2013, the team's fall from grace has been dramatic.
Nigeria's Olympic team managed to reverse the trend with a bronze medal at Rio, but given the competition is predominantly for players under the age of 23, this does not necessarily mean a renaissance the full senior team, known as the Super Eagles,
So what lessons could Feyisetan and his team of Paralympic powerlifters teach the country's faltering football stars and administrators?
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