Despite the challenges confronting persons with intellectual disabilities, they are defying the odds to make a bold statement in Sports and other social activities through the huge support provided by Coca Cola Nigeria.
Abdul Yemi is a smart youth who grew to notice he was born with a medical condition. For the parents, the arrival of Abdul as a bundle of joy in 1990 turned out to be a mixed bag of feelings. Having waited too long to have their first child, the news of his birth came as a soothing relief. But the announcement by the family’s personal doctor that the baby had autism dealt a devastating blow. The joy that had pervaded the hospital complex on the arrival of the boy became short lived as gloom took over. Since then, the parent has been left to bear the responsibility of raising the child. The case of Abdul is one out of over 1 million estimates of people now living with various forms of intellectual disabilities. Although intellectual disabilities cut across both the rich and the poor, many poor homes have found it rather challenging to cope with the demand of raising kids going through this circumstance. This situation had forced many parents of these children to break down in the face of unimaginable challenges thus impairing their development. For many of these poor families, the intervention of Special Olympic Nigeria has become a convenient platform to abandon their children thus expecting the organization to assume full responsibility for their upkeep and general wellbeing.
In Nigeria, living with intellectually disabled is a tough nut to crack for both the individual and the parents (care givers). Aside the fact that it is almost challenging to raise them, they are often traumatized by social stigmatization and rejection from the society. Added to these challenges is the absence of dedicated social facilities – transportation, education, sports and even medical – needed to provide the required specialized care.
Hence, these persons are often seen as “high maintenance” and a huge burden on families in a country where more than 70% of the population lives below the poverty line. This unpleasant situation appears to have been the lot of Abdul and others living in different challenging circumstances. But the intervention of Special Olympics Nigeria in the last twelve years has proven to change the narrative-that indeed persons in these circumstances have capacity to reach their dreams. While revolutionary effort by Special Olympics Nigeria, a not-for-profit organization, needs to be commended having initiated the move to harness the capacity of these persons, the contribution of Multinational companies such as Coca Cola Nigeria remains a game changer. Through sporting and other developmental activities, the organization is helping to integrate IDs as valuable member of the society
Over the past 12 years of inception in Nigeria, Special Olympics movement in Nigeria has chronicled one inspiring, life-changing story to another, as parents of these children are now filled with rekindled hopes that indeed, “there is ability in disability”.
To promote this worthy social cause, designed to help reinvent humanity but also in tandem with its commitment to Youth development, Coca-Cola Nigeria has remained unwavering in its commitment to the vision of human enterprise development through funding support but also an active volunteering support by the Coca-Cola system employees in Nigeria at the various Regional, National and World Summer Games. This contribution has expanded the footprint of the Special Olympics movement across the major geopolitical regions. in terms of impact, visibility and awareness. More so, the annual National Games, had proven to be an enabling platform for realizing their talents and potentials in athletic sports. Evidently, the campaign has evolved through the years in Nigeria but also reinvented itself recently through its Unified Games which is designed to promote social bonding through frequent interaction and engagements through training and competitions which feature Special Olympics Athletes and Partners in Olympic-type sports. This initiative fosters an atmosphere of social acceptance and inclusion of persons with ID.
Beyond the financial support for the annual National Games, Coca Cola Nigeria is also involved in other activities which had been critical to the enhanced self-esteem of the athletes, shattered the myth and stigma that had hitherto been a major social barrier to the psychosocial progress of persons with ID within the Special Olympics network. Such volunteering opportunities by System associates include Training, coaching/ mentoring, logistic support during events, donation of sporting gears. To help stimulate their career aspirations in sports, notable football celebrities in Nigeria are invited to attend their training sessions, coach and share success tips with the SO athletes.
Just recently, 23-year old Chidi with impaired hearing, a beneficiary of the Coca-Cola sponsored Unified Soccer team signed up with a 3rd division football team in the US. Like Chidi, Chidalu Nweze, a 22-year old member of the SO Nigeria Unified Basketball team, had also received several global recognitions and Invitations to feature in the US Unified Basket- ball All Stars.
An associate of Coca Cola Nigeria Franchise, Khaleed Oluyadi, who featured as a Guest player in the Unified Basketball games at the just concluded SO National Games remarked that “ participating with the intellectually disabled has changed my entire perspective generally about persons with special needs. In everyone’s disability, lies ingenuity and potential talent. It takes platforms like this to help them unlock their potentials.” Mr Anthony Johnson, spouse of Caroline on whose invitation he had a first time encounter with the SO athletes as a Guest Player in the Unified basket ball games, noted “Social interaction remains the game-changer. There are enormous mutual benefits and dependencies for both athletes and Partners”
Speaking on the rationale behind the support for Special Olympics Nigeria, Public Affairs, Analyst, Coca-Cola West Africa Business Unit, Emeka Mba noted that “At Coca-Cola, we consider as a business imperative, the challenge of promoting sustainable wellbeing of communities where we operate. Our support for the SO Olympics movement in Nigeria since inception has evolved, having grown in leaps and bounds. In all of its growth trajectory, Partnership through funding and volunteering support from Government, Business and civil society largely signposts the defining moments that had dotted its evolution”.
The representative of Lagos State Governor at the event and Board member of the Lagos State Sports Commission, Mr. Babatunde Fatai-Williams expressed delight at the support offered by Coca Cola as well as Special Olympics Nigeria in giving meaning to the lives of persons with Intellectual Disability. He said, ”I must appreciate what Coca Cola Nigeria has been doing in giving these children a platform for self-expression and essence. The support particularly in organizing this event has helped a great deal in boosting their confidence.
Fatai Williams explained further that Lagos government was committed to supporting youth empowerment noting that efforts are in place to provide the enabling environment for children to fulfill or realize their potentials regardless of their psychosocial status.
Williams who commended Coca-Cola Nigeria, Special Olympics Nigeria and other partners for their invaluable contribution to boosting the self-esteem of these categories of children charged other partners to take a cue by lending support either through finance or other means possible.
Recalling some of the impact of the company’s contribution on Special Olympics Nigeria, Chairman of Special Olympics Nigeria, SON, Mr. Victor Osibodu said ”Over the past 12 years, we had provided funding and in-kind supports through employee volunteering to inspire over 2000 athletes within the Special Olympics Nigeria network at the Regional, National, Winter and World Summer Games. By the optimism we inspire through our brands, we have seen a stakeholder group resolutely determined to shatter the age long myth which for so long, had served as human imposed limitations on the development opportunities of ID persons in Nigeria.
As part of plans to boost the confidence of the SO Nigeria Unified Soccer and Basketball teams ahead of the World Summer Games in Dubai next year at the just concluded National Games, Coca-Cola Nigeria employees featured alongside football and Basket-ball professionals in series of trainings and novelty match. For the football professionals, it was their own way of giving back to society, as many of them flew down from Europe and England upon the invitation of Coca-Cola to support with enhancing the quality of play by the SO athletes. Ex Super Eagles Top striker, Julius Aghahowa, Kikelomo of National Female team and Christy Ikudaisi amongst others participated as volunteered guest players, which enhanced the profile and quality of the games.
The highpoint of the day were the Grand finale of the Unified games in which South West defeated South East to emerge winners in the Unified Soccer and Basket ball games to represent Nigeria at the 2019 World Summer Games in Dubai.
