For Ade Adepitan, disability is no barrier

Perhaps, no British athlete of Nigerian extraction has won more recognitions than Ade Adepitan. NNAEMEKA MERIBE, with agency reports, tells the story of the resilient sportsman who is celebrated in Britain. He is an Olympics medallist. He is physically challenged. He is a Member of the Order of the British Empire. He has Nigerian blood flowing in his veins. Adedoyin Olayiwola Adepitan, popularly known as Ade Adepitan is arguably, at the moment, the most popular Nigerian-born British athlete. Of course, there are other Nigerian-born British athletes like Philips Idowu, who is currently the world triple jump champion and the quarter-miler, Christine Ohuruogu, an Olympic and World Championship gold medallist, among others. But none of them is at the moment as popular as Ade, who is the face of the London 2012 Paralympics. Earlier this year, the TV presenter was given a Lifetime Achievement Award by the University of East London, and just last month, the university conferred an honorary doctorate degree on him. Interestingly, that was not the first honorary doctorate degree the athlete cum broadcaster, whom the Queen of England awarded an MBE in 2005 for his services to disability sports, had received. He was also presented with an honorary doctorate from Loughborough University in 2006 in recognition of his outstanding services to, and performances in, disabled sports. And what is more? The former Great Britain wheelchair basketball star is also on the cover of the new British Telephone Phone Book for the London area. Writing on the decision by the British Broadcasting Corporation’s Channel 4 to choose Ade as the face of the London 2012, Inside World Parasport noted, “It was no doubt an astute move from Channel 4 to recruit likeable Londoner because with his trademark dreadlocks, infectious laugh and winning smile, he is without a doubt one of the most recognisable and popular paralympians in Great Britain. He has also accomplished an awful lot in a relatively short space of time.” Indeed, Ade, who was an Ambassador for the London’s 2012 Olympics bid, has achieved a lot in his 37 years. Not for once has he let his disability deter him from achieving success. If anything, his disability has always been the tonic that pushes him to achieve greater things. For instance, he told the Times of London in an interview in 2005, ”Coping with some seriously tough situations and pushing myself beyond my physical limits have made me feel that I can do anything now. It will also be a great eye-opener for the public, though. “I always felt that I had to go one step further, do that little bit extra, to prove to my peers that I was worth it. I have always tried to do things that people didn‘t expect me to do, such as playing football. And I left home when I was 16 because I felt that I had to find my own independence. A friend recently told me that the word ‘no’ isn‘t in my vocabulary. “Until the age of 12, I used callipers (leg braces). But they looked rubbish and they made me walk like C3P0 in Star Wars after a night in the town. I hated being so slow; my friends used to push me about in a Tesco trolley so that I could keep up.” In 2005, Ade participated in Beyond Boundaries, a four part documentary series for BBC2, which took him on the trek of a lifetime across the rainforests, deserts, rivers and mountains of Nicaragua. A year later, he featured in the CBBC drama Desperados about a wheelchair basketball team Ade‘s 18 years in Wheelchair Basketball saw him gain over 90 caps for Great Britain, with career highlights including winning a bronze medal at the 2004 Paralympic Games in Athens and gold at the 2005 Paralympic World Cup in Manchester. After his retirement from Wheelchair Basketball, the resilient he decided to focus on a new challenge and, since 2007, has been training and competing in Wheelchair Tennis. Indeed, Ade‘s story is that of encouragement to the physically challenged. It proves that they can achieve whatever they want to achieve in spite of their physical appearance. And as a public speaker, the one-time British record holder for the bench press uses his speaking engagements to encourage the physically challenged. Ade who was on Monday featured on Cable Network News’ African Voices, has done a number of high profile public speaking engagements including the launch of the 2012 Olympic bid at the Royal Opera House alongside the former British Prime Minister, Tony Blair. He works extensively in the United Kingdom, giving motivational speeches to schools, charities and businesses including The Royal Mail, BUPA, National Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Children, Lloyds TSB and BT. As a journalist, Ade presented BBC’s daily X-Change programme for five years. Other credits include Tiger Tiger for Channel five, where he reported on endangered species from around the globe. Highlights included riding elephants while looking for tigers in India, and swimming with sharks in Australia, while personal triumphs included overcoming his fear of water and night walks in the depths of the African jungle. He also presented Dream Ticket for London Weekend Television in which he explored Jamaica and went diving in the Seychelles. In 2006, he presented ITV1’s The Boat Show from the Atlantic Ocean. Ade has regularly reported for BBC1’s Holiday series having travelled to France, scuba dived in Mexico, gone on safari in Kenya and the Gambia, skied in Canada and America as well as filming in Bonaire and Curacao in the Caribbean. He took on a new challenge in 2006 with his first principle acting role for BBC1’s popular kids’ drama, Desperados. He has also appeared in Brit feature film, Freight, ITV1’s Hardware and BBC1’s Casualty. A philanthropist and activist, Ade’s foray into television has allowed him to help those less fortunate than himself and he has campaigned against racism and disability discrimination. In addition to being a patron for Scope and the Association for Wheelchair Children, he is also an ambassador for the NSPCC and The Prince‘s Trust. Not too long ago, he was made the Patron for the Great Britain Wheelchair Basketball Association. Ade started playing wheelchair basketball at 13 after seeing some of the national team players doing some mad moves at the Stoke Mandeville Games. “It is a fast, exciting, action-packed sport and it’s what I‘m all about,” he once told the BBC First, he began playing for fun but he got better and later joined the Milton Keynes Aces. It was then that he realised that he could play for the national team and go to the Olympics. One of his regrets, however, was not making the squads for the 1996 Atlanta Games and the European Championships the following year. Despite the disappointments, he never despaired. ”I didn‘t give up though and then there it was - the letter saying I was going to the 2000 Sydney Paralympics. It was always my dream to go and it still gives me goose-bumps when I read it. Sydney was out of this world. I remember waiting in the tunnel and there were 110,000 people cheering us on. I was gob-smacked and had tears in my eyes - 10 years of hard work had been worth it,” he said. He later won bronze with the British team. However, he was full of regrets for losing to the United States in the semi-final. He lamented, ”In the end, it was a gutting experience. One second away from a medal when they won with the last shot of the game. It took four months to get over it and seeing it on TV all the time didn‘t help.” Ade was born normal in Maryland, Lagos in 1973. Unfortunately, six months after his birth, he contracted Polio, which left his left leg weak and damaged. But he survived the debilitating disease. Three years later Ade and his family moved to Britain and settled in Newham, London. His parents, who were both teachers in Nigeria, decided to relocate to the UK so that their son could receive better medical care. His father went to Britain first and later, his mother came along with him. While at primary school in London, Ade gave up the callipers which helped him walk and took up basketball having seen the Great Britain Wheelchair Basketball Team in action. Since then, he has never looked back. He was selected for the British team when he was 18 and has competed on every continent and at every level. He moved to Spain when he was 21 to play professionally for Zaragossa.