recounting his experience, Lagos State Governor Sanwo-Olu said, “Growing up as a child, there was a poster that hung on the sitting room of our house. It read: “I was angry because I had no shoes. That was until I met a man without legs.” While the import of that statement might not have been literal, for the purpose of my wandering thoughts, I want to take it literal. After all, many people – young and old, rich and poor – have lost and would continue to lose limbs, either through accidents, sickness or other causes.
In our society, disabled people, for no fault of theirs, are often stigmatised and looked down against. Many public infrastructures by design do not consider their physical disadvantages, resulting in a casual ostracising from society. The poor ones are often treated as scum, especially when they resort to begging. While sports is often a sort of therapy, even engaging in sports brings out its own challenges. And for those disabled athletes who decide to go professional, local athletic meets are as good as non-existent, frustrating many of them.
As an athlete , I can relate to the frustrations many of them must be facing. That is perhaps why I was filled with emotions as I watched the recent unveiling of Lagos State competition for the disabled. Strategically dubbed Lagos Ability Games, the name perhaps resonates with the motivational realism of there being ‘ability’ in every ‘disability’.
Surely, aside from losing one’s limbs, other forms of disabilities exist. However, people with different forms of disabilities can still engage in one form of sport or the other. In June, the Lagos State governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, was photographed playing chess with a 10-year old medically challenged champion, Ferdinand Maumo. While some people may think it’s a publicity stunt, I think it’s a good way of drawing attention to both the infirmed amongst us as well as the taxing game of Chess. At least, we all witnessed how a boy who spent a good part of his life under the Oshodi Bridge where he was a conductor, emerged as a Chess champion after a few days of tutelage. Well, I digress.
Talking about our disabled athletes in Nigeria, it is a fact that they seem to be more ‘able’ than our able athletes. At the Special Olympics, the country is always proud as they haul in medals in spectacular fashion. That is why anytime I pass the National Stadium, Surulere, watching the Para-lifters, disabled table tennis, is always a delight. The sheer grit from their daily grind is worthy of commendation.
That is why it is pleasing that Lagos State has again partnered to bring the Lagos Ability Games. The event which is scheduled to be held on December 29 at the Teslim Balogun Stadium, Surulere will begin a new frontier for para-athletes in the state. According to the General Manager of Lagos State Office for Disability Affairs (LASODA), Dare Dairo, the maiden edition of the games which is the idea of Governor Sanwo-Olu will be mainly for exhibition.
“We won’t be having a full tournament, but I promise a better one next year because we are going to start early,” he said.
“We are going to have more partners and sponsors come on board so that we can get off. So we are going to do a lot more for people with disabilities in this state.”