Taekwondo kids: From poor homes to world stage

The children engaging themselves in taekwondo bouts at Pelade School, Ifako, Gbagada, Lagos, under the supervision of Adetola-Kaseem.
| credits: ’Tana Aiyejina

Taekwondo has changed the lives of less privilege children in Gbagada area of Lagos and beyond, helping them become better persons in life, reports ’TANA AIYEJINA

Pelade School, located on 36, Ajayi Aina Street, Ifako Gbagada, Lagos, to a passerby, is just like any other private school in Lagos.

However, since 2014, the school has gradually gained a reputation within its vicinity, not just for education but sports. Every Saturday between 7am and 9am, kids between the ages of four and 18 gather to learn taekwondo lessons from the Quwwah Taekwondo Club.

These kids form a cycle sitting down, and watch with anxiety, as their mates take turns to fight and learn taekwondo skills. They shout and jump in ecstasy as their colleagues do battle, eagerly waiting for their turns to fight.

Just in front of the school fence, passersby stop to get glimpses of the youngsters fighting. They get thrilled and inevitably become engrossed while watching the kids.

“I stop every Saturday morning on my way to work, to watch the kids fight. It’s interesting and I am happy the kids are properly kitted to fight,” an onlooker, John Chukwudi, said.

The children engaging themselves in taekwondo bouts at Pelade School, Ifako, Gbagada, Lagos, under the supervision of Adetola-Kaseem

Penultimate Saturday, our correspondent was at the school to watch the kids display their knowledge of taekwondo.

The star fight of the day turned out to be the bout between Daniel Otuonye and nine-year old Aina Odusanya. The younger Odusanya came out smoking but met his match in Otuonye. Both fighters fell down severally amidst cheers from their supporters but eventually the 11-year-old Otuonye triumphed 17-12, to the disappointment of Odusanya.

“Daniel beat me because I had a headache. If I was not sick, I would have won,” Odusanya said.

Findings by our correspondent showed that majority of the members of the club are kids from government schools within Gbagada area while 13-year-old Shomoye Olayemi makes the long trip from Egbeda to Gbagada with his mother every week to learn the tricks of the sport.

According to the founder, Ahmed Adetola-Kaseem, a black belt holder, the club is under the aegis of Quwwah Martial Arts Development Initiative, a Corporate Social Responsibility project of the Law firm of Gani Adetola-Kaseem, SAN LP.

He said it was established as a response to the societal problem of street children’s vulnerability and inclination towards criminal activities.

Adetola-Kaseem has over 50 children in the club but he admits it has not been easy convincing parents and guardians to release their children.

He said, “The aim of Q-MADI is to look out for ordinary boys and girls on the streets and see how they can have a brighter future. We hope to make them champions and responsible people in the society.

“Most of the boys virtually live on the streets, so instead of fighting and joining bad gangs, they can channel their energies to taekwondo, which can help them become world champions.

“But it hasn’t been easy trying to convince parents and neigbours to allow their children join us. I have a neigbour who says her kid is stubborn and that taekwondo will make him worse but that isn’t true. The boy trained with us recently with the permission of his parents and he liked the sport.”

The club was formed in 2014 but in just one year, it has produced a Commonwealth champion Shola Olowookere and five national champions.

The national champions are Olowookere (-63kg) and Sanusi Abdulmujeeb (-54kg) in the senior category; and Damola Giwa (-42kg), Daniel Otuonye (-29kg) and Olayemi Shomoye (-33kg) in the junior category.

Last year, the teenagers groomed by the programme won 45 medals in all competitions. Three of the athletes also emerged national champions at the National School Sports Festival, which held in Oturkpo, Benue State, in November 2014.

Majority of the kids at the club are from poor homes but have now achieved some level of recognition in the country through taekwondo.

Otuonye has been nicknamed Chukwumerije because of his taekwondo skills

Sixteen-year-old Damola Giwa, a JSS 3 pupil of Ifako Comprehensive High School, lost his father when he was just eight but his mother, Folake, has been of immense support to the young lad, who hopes to become a world champion in future.

“I have been praying for him (Damola) to become successful in whatever he ventures into. Since he has chosen taekwondo, I have given him the needed support,” the petty trader told our correspondent at their home on 36 Salawu Onikoyi Street, Ifako, Gbagada.

Some few meters away, on 3, Aran Orin Street, reside the Otusanya brothers: Aina, Babalola and Niyi. Aina won a gold and bronze at last year’s Honeyland and Panamai taekwondo championships respectively while Babalola won a gold at the GTA/LTV championship. Niyi also boasts a silver at the Honeyland championship.

Their uncle, Adeola Otusanya, said taekwondo has helped the trio, who were hitherto street boys, become better individuals.

“The environment we live in tells it all but even though we are not rich, we can feed ourselves. However, since my nephews turned to taekwondo, there is a change of attitude in them through the guidance of their coach and family members.

“The family is proud of their achievements so far and we are all praying that they will represent the country in future,” he said.

The next house is home to Daniel Otuonye. The Otuonyes live in two rooms in the one-storey building but Daniel has become a cult hero of sorts in the neigbourhood due to his exploits in taekwondo.

He has even been nicknamed Chukwumerije, after Chika Chukwumerije, Nigeria’s most accomplished taekwondo athlete.

“I and my wife were athletes and I envisaged that one day, our kids will go into other sports. Daniel has proven to be exceptional by going into taekwondo. They call him Chukwumerije of Ndoro, my village, in Abia State,” Daniel’s father, Collins, said.

Esther Ndima is one of only two girls in the club. The 17-year-old’s father is a roadside second-hand electronics dealer. She helps her father in selling but she also gives the desired attention to the sport.

Blessing Yinyeghe with her parents. Inset: Blessing with her medals

In less than one year, she is a gold medalist at the 2014 Lagos State Sports Festival tagged Ibile Games and the Panamai championship.

She admitted it wasn’t easy when she started fighting in 2014 but today, she is proud to fight against boys and even beat them during contests.

“In the beginning, I didn’t know anything about the sport, so I was easily beaten. But I kept training and that has helped me a lot. I hold a white belt, but that doesn’t mean I cannot beat a black belt holder,” she said.

“I hope to become an Olympic champion. I always want to be the best in anything I do,” Ndima added.

Blessing Yinyeghe, a 17-year-old SSS 2 pupil of Ifako Comprehensive High School, is the other girl in the club. She too has a gold medal from the Ibile Games and three other bronze medals.

Friends tried to discourage her from going into the sport initially but she seemed destined for great things when just after two days of training, she emerged a gold medalist at the Ibile Games.

“I was not regular in training but my mother kept encouraging me; she tells me I can become someone in life through taekwondo. When I won gold last year, I couldn’t believe it. I know better now because the sport has taken me to lots of places I never dreamt of being before.

“I have learnt life’s lessons through the sport. It has taught me that if you are poor, you can be what you want to be if you believe in God and your ability. I want to become a future champion and a lawyer, so I can help less privilege people, just like Q-MADI has helped me and other kids,” Yinyeghe said.

Truly, Yinyeghe is from a poor background. She lives in Oworonshoki, one of the slums of Lagos State. The short trip to her house on Oke Erin Street brought to the fore the pathetic conditions under which people live in the area.

Close to the lagoon, the area has a stale stench with flies having a field day on the debris littered everywhere from the roads to the compounds. What actually serves as the abode of the Yinyeghes is a rough wooden structure.

But inside these poor surroundings resides an ambitious family, who believe that Blessing would one day earn global recognition as a taekwondo athlete and thus help move her family away from ghetto life.

They may be poor, but the Yinyeghes give their guests a red carpet reception. Indeed a tattered red rug leads you to the entrance of the house.

Blessing’s mother, Queen, had a brazen mien about her daughter’s ability to become the family’s messiah through taekwondo. She believes that Blessing will sooner than later, fall in the line of world renowned sportsmen and women, who rose from grass to grace.

Entrance to the home of the Yinyeghes

“I believe the sport would make my daughter great. When she succeeds, it will help the entire family,” Blessing’s mother, Queen, said.

“Regularly I sit her down and give her advice. She can see we are living in a ghetto but she can become great one day and take us away from this poor life we have been living. I believe in her ability to become a world champion one day.

“We ensure that she doesn’t mix unnecessarily with people because it will distract her. Since she started the sport last year, there are visible changes,” she added.

No wonder, the entire house and neigbourhood was in rapturous mood when Blessing won her first gold medal, just few days into the sport, last year.

“We were all very happy. We danced and sang all day for Blessing. It was a moment of joy for every member of the family,” Queen added.

Lucky Yinyeghe, Blessing’s father, wants his daughter to put in more effort. He is already envisaging where his daughter will be in 2020, when she clocks 22.

“I believe Blessing can do more and get even better. Initially she didn’t want to go for training but I encouraged her to go. We are all hoping that in five years’ time, she will be representing Nigeria in other countries and winning medals,” he said.

Gold medalist at the 2014 Commonwealth Taekwondo Championships, Shola Olowookere, has been a source of inspiration to the other members of the club, who hope to follow in his footpaths to stardom.

At just 17 and in SS3, Olowookere etched himself in history winning a gold in Edinburgh and even though he began the sport under coach Aramide Mukaila at the Millenium Taekwondo Club, he blossomed at Q-MADI.

He is banking on the backing of the club to greater heights.

“Before last year’s Commonwealth Championships, Q-MADI took me to Abuja to train with national champions and it helped me a lot. It wasn’t easy winning gold in Scotland. It’s normal to get to competitions and be afraid but everything was okay because I trained hard.

“This year, I want to win a medal at the World Championships and a gold at the All Africa Games. The other kids in the club can also do very well in 2015 because they are experienced now, unlike in 2014 when they were knowing about the sport for the very first time. I am impressed with their rapid development,” Olowookere said.

Adetola-Kaseem, a lawyer, disclosed that the aim of the club was not just about taekwondo alone but about taking the children off the streets and making them better individuals.

According to him, Q-MADI’s “From Street to Podium” programme has helped in this aspect. In May 2014, one of the schools adopted by the initiative, Ifako Comprehensive High School, was nominated the Best Taekwondo Team at the Ibile Games.

[/media-credit] Founder of Q-MADI, Adetola-Kaseem

The club also supports the children through remedial classes for their external examinations.

“Q-MADI is beyond taekwondo. Our watchword is being the best in whatever we do. What we are doing will help reduce crime rate in the state. The kids need to acquire life skills, and education is very important,” Adetola-Kassim said.

President of the Nigeria Taekwondo Federation, George Ashiru, lauded the project, saying over time, taekwondo has helped made people better individuals.

He added that contrary to insinuations, responsible people in the society practice the sport.

The Grand Master said, “You can use it for self defence against bullies, and we have people as old as 70 years doing taekwondo. It helps in learning discipline and we give our athletes psychological training to help them withstand pains.

“There are lots of taekwondo people who are pastors and imams like Adetola-Kaseem. We also have professors and other top individuals in the society who are involved in taekwondo. The sport is generic and can be done by everyone. I’m happy about the effort of Q-MADI in giving the children hope.”

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