Over 160 students from 36 schools participated in the second edition of the Ellen Olusola Caulcrick Foundation Unified Sports event, held at the Igbobi College sports facility in Lagos.
The event brought together students with and without disabilities, featuring walking and running races, basketball, football, egg races, and tug-of-war.
Speaking at the event, the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Sustainable Development Goals, Princess Adejoke Orelope-Adefulire, praised the organisers and urged greater support for children living with disabilities.
She said, “These young people living with disabilities require love, support, and encouragement, and we should rally around to show more concern about their well-being, their future, and their education.”
Orelope-Adefulire emphasized that while government policies exist to support inclusion, individual and organisational commitment is key.
“It’s not about the policy, laws and regulations but it’s about individual passion, organisational passion, philanthropic passion,” she added. She also highlighted her office’s plans to establish a 500-bed hostel and school for the Child School for the Blind in Surulere.
Taire Adefemi, chairman of the Olusoye Compensatory Centre board, described sports as a powerful tool for fostering inclusion. “Sports are compared with nothing else in bringing them together and making everyone the same. They are happy and feel like they belong. Nobody is rejecting them,” he said, urging expansion of the initiative across Lagos State and nationwide.
The 160 participants, drawn from 24 government and 12 private schools, each received medals, team t-shirts, gifts, lunch, and refreshments. The foundation was established in June 2013 to honour Mrs. Ellen Olusola Caulcrick.
