The 1st ever miss wheelchair Nigeria, is set to commence......

A female advocate for
members of the disability
community will soon be
chosen in the first ever
‘ Miss Wheelchair Nigeria
Pageant’.

The event, which originated
in the United States of
America in 1972, will debut
for the first time in Africa
with the aim of selecting an
intelligent and worthy
advocate for people living
with disabilities in Nigeria.
According to Cosmas Okoli,
the President of Mobility Aid
and Appliances Research and
Development Centre
(MAARDEC), organisers of
the pageant, the criteria for
selecting the winner would
not be focused on beauty like
most other pageants but
would seek for a woman with
good communication skills
who can serve as a brand for
people with disabilities.

“Miss Wheelchair Nigeria
Pageant is not a beauty
pageant in the sense that
there is no emphasis on the
physical appearance of the
contestants, ” he said.
“There are no bikini contests
and the contestants will be
judged on their achievements
since the onset of their
disabilities, their projection
and communication skills,
and their abilities to
successfully advocate for
over 20 million Nigerians
with disabilities. It is likely
that the winner would be
very beautiful but that is not
one of our criteria. ”

According to him, while the
actual worth of prizes to be
given to the winner is not yet
known due to insufficient
financial sponsors, the
winner of the pageant would
go home with a brand new car
and other attractive prizes.

“ The Miss Wheelchair
Nigeria Pageant 2010 title
holder will receive a
handsome prize and will be
branded and equipped to
carry out some specific
assignments including to
ensure at least 500 persons
with disabilities are
gainfully employed, ” he said.

The choice of using a
physically challenged person
for their advocacy, he added,
was necessary to adequately
project their cause. “In any
advocacy it is best to use
those that are mostly
affected, ” he said. “Who is
best to talk about
marginalisation other than
those who are marginalised?
Women on wheelchair suffer
the most and so we decided it
was best to start with Miss
Wheelchair. As women with
disabilities, they also suffer
the stereotype associated
with disabilities. ”

According to the organisers,
the contestants must be
women aged between 18 and
50 by May 2010. They may
also be married, single,
divorced or separated. They
may have children,
grandchildren, great
grandchildren or no children
at all. There will be zonal
competitions to select state
representatives at the grand
finale to be held on
December 4 in Lagos.

Azeez Olanrewaju, the Senior
Special Assistant to chairman
of Amuwo-Odofin Local
Government Area, while
speaking at the press
conference yesterday, said
the council was committed to
the pageant and the
disability centre. “Our local
government is very proud
and honoured to partner with
the president of MAARDEC
and to associate ourselves
with this model event, ” he
said. “Pageantry is a medium
to market and market is the
window of brands. By this
novel initiative, I must say
that MAARDEC is on a course
to history. We shall portray
this event in the glory it
requires. All necessary
support shall be given to this
event. ”

Mr Okoli, who also announced
his intentions to run for a
senatorial position in the
coming elections, said that it
was unfair that there are no
people with disabilities in
political positions in the
country. This he said has
contributed to the
marginalisation against
members of the disability
community and building of
public facilities such as
roads and banks in such a way
that is inaccessible to people
with disabilities. “If a non-
profit organisation can make
its structure accessible, why
can ’t the government? It is
very painful that we are
pursuing the Millennium
Development Goals without
people with disabilities, ” he
said. “A society is judged by
its ability to take care of the
weakest members of the
society. If you build a society
for the rich and powerful,
you have not built a society
because everybody would not
be rich and powerful.”