Cosmas I.B. Okoli is President/CEO, Mobility Aid and Appliances Research and Development Centre (MAARDEC).  In this piece, Okoli, who celebrated his 50th birthday on Tuesday,  unfolds the Hope and Possibilities Ride from Lagos to Abuja with Manual Tricycles by him and two other polio survivors. The event, according to him, starts November 4 and ends December 3. And barring any changes, the route will be from Lagos through Ogun, Oyo, Osun, Edo, Delta, Anambra, Enugu, Ebonyi, Benue, Nasarawa.

Hope and Possibilities Ride is a ride with manual tricycles by three persons with disabilities from Lagos to Abuja, covering a distance of 1,349 kilometers. The riders will be accompanied by three able-bodied cyclists, Federal Road Safety Commission officials, security agents, trumpeters, medical personnel, caterers, tricycle and bicycle technicians and sanitation personnel. A total number of 80 persons will be on the entourage. The riders will cover about 75 kilometers every day and, at each stop, the entourage will camp at convenient pre-arranged locations along the route. Courtesy calls will be paid on each state governor along the route.

The team will arrive the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja on 3 December, 2012, and it is expected that the President and Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Dr. Goodluck Ebele Jonathan, will receive the team on arrival. The arrival of the team at Abuja has been planned to coincide with the International Day of Persons with Disabilities which is 3rd December every year. There will be rally at Abuja on the arrival of the team to celebrate the 2012 International Day of Persons with Disabilities with the theme:  “Removing barriers to create an inclusive and accessible society for-all”.

The objectives of the ride are:
1. To promote legislation to protect the rights of persons with disabilities in Nigeria.
According to the World Health Organization’s estimate and our local studies, the population of Nigerians with disabilities is estimated to be over 22 million. Unfortunately, this significant segment of our population still suffers unimaginable social exclusion.

Though a few states now have legislation to protect the rights of persons with disabilities, most of the states and the Federal Government still do not and even the states that have the legislation, have not done much to promote and implement the legislation. The Hope and Possibilities Ride will create the necessary awareness that will lead to the Federal Government and the rest of the states to put in place comprehensive legislation to protect the rights of persons with disabilities and ensure promotion and implementation of the legislations.

Uncle Sam Amuka, Oliver Akubueze, Chief (Mrs.) Kate Onunwa, Marij Colruyt, Mrs. Josephine Nzerem, Mrs. Azuka Okoli, Mr. Cosmas Okoli, Senator Bode Olajumoke and Elder S. E. Ishelowo in a group photograph with Mr. Okoli as he cuts his birthday cake at Golden Tulip Hotel, Festac Town, Lagos.

2. To promote immunization of children against polio and other preventable
childhood diseases. Nigeria is still one of the few countries of the world where polio is still endemic. Our children are still coming down with polio as a result of lack of immunization, we will during this ride, educate and inform people on the dangers of not immunizing their children and encourage them to do more to complement the efforts of the government and international community to ensure that polio is kicked out of the world.

3. To promote safety on Nigerian roads. The carnage on our roads is alarming, and more needs to be done to reduce the rate of road traffic accidents which is sending a lot of people to their early graves; maiming a lot of others permanently and swelling the population of persons with disabilities. Hope and Possibilities Ride will work with the Federal Road Safety Commission to carry out studies that would help reduce road traffic accidents and promote a safer driving culture.

4. To promote MAARDEC’s expansion of its operations to meet the mobility needs of Nigerians with Disabilities at their doorsteps in all states of the federation. MAARDEC empowers people with disabilities by providing them with mobility aids and appliances and complementary services, ensuring their social, economic and political relevance to society. We reach the unreached, giving voice and hope, producing skilled labor, creating opportunities and new markets, thus enhancing economic, social and political equity that will make Nigeria a better place. During this ride, MAARDEC will seek the support of various state Governments to enable her set up an empowerment centre in each state with mobile mobility aids technical units that will take our services to the door steps of every person with disability in Nigeria.

PRE-EVENT ACTIVITIES INCLUDE:
1. Media roundtable aimed at creating awareness for the project.
2.  100km road-shows in Lagos in October aimed at creating further awareness for the project and provide opportunity for the riders to test their fitness as they will ride the tricycles during the event.
3. A fund raising dinner in November to raise funds for the project.
4, . Courtesy call on stakeholders and partners, including media tours,  to promote the project.

Equipment and facilities needed for the project are:
1.    Six manual tricycles and spare parts.
2.    Four mini buses.
3.    One 15-tonnes truck and a pick up van.
4.  Four patrol vehicles
5.  Three mobile toilets and bathrooms.
6.  Sewage evacuation tank
7.  Sleeping tents.

Mr Cosmas Okoli

This project is capital intensive and will rely on sponsorships for funding. It offers a great opportunity for companies and organizations to promote their goods and services. It also offers a good opportunity for companies to carry out their corporate social responsibilities. I therefore appeal to companies, organizations and individuals to invest in this unique project.“

This project can only succeed with the help of the media; I therefore wish to appeal to the media to help us give this project the desired publicity to ensure that the objectives are realized.

Today is my 50th birthday and my 22 years of active service as a social entrepreneur. For me, there is no better way to celebrate my golden jubilee than to re-strategize and reinvigorate the struggle for mainstreaming persons with disabilities.

Borrowing from the words of greatest living legend, Dr. Nelson Mandela: “The struggle is my life”. The best gift anybody can give me in celebration of this milestone is anything you can do to ensure that this “Hope and Possibilities Ride” succeeds.