Miss Wheelchair 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.

'No bikini contests'

"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 criteria

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.

The supporters

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 yMAARDEC 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.
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