2014 and 2015 were defining years for many Nigerians. For some, it was the birth of an illusory hope of a greater Nigeria, but for others, it was a troubling Armageddon of an apocalypse that has come way too soon. I have a short story to tell. A tale of what could have been.
The only nonsense I will not take from any football fan is to tell me that Dembele is better than kylian Mbappe as an overall footballer. There's not one attacking individual data that supports this. You think the Ballon D'or changes ability? The disrespect is loud.
I watched this video expecting to come away thinking about the realities of raising a child with significant additional needs. Instead, I found myself reading the comments and wondering how we still have such a poor understanding of disability in 2026.
What struck me was not people acknowledging that caring for a child with complex needs can be difficult. That is simply reality. Parents and carers live that reality every single day and there is nothing wrong with speaking honestly about it.
What unsettled me was how quickly the conversation moved from โthis looks hardโ to โthis child should never have been born.โ
I saw comments suggesting she should have been terminated. Comments suggesting her life was a burden. Comments suggesting that the motherโs devotion and care were somehow evidence that the pregnancy should have been terminated.
As a social worker who has spent years working alongside disabled children, disabled adults and families caring for children with additional needs. I have seen exhaustion, grief, parents worry endlessly about the future, siblings make sacrifices, families fighting for support that should never have been so difficult to access.
But I have also seen is love, joy, connection, resilience, humour, achievement and lives that have value far beyond the limitations that other people place upon them.
The little girl in this video is not a thought experiment. She is not a political argument about abortion. She is not a cautionary tale. She is a child. A child whose life has worth simply because she exists.
You do not have to pretend that raising a child with significant disabilities is easy. It isnโt. You do not have to believe you would personally be able to cope with that level of responsibility. Many people probably couldnโt.
But there is a huge moral difference between acknowledging the challenges of disability and deciding that a disabled personโs life is less valuable than anyone elseโs.
Perhaps what disturbed me most was realising that some people watched that motherโs patience, love and commitment and saw tragedy. I watched the same video and saw a mother doing her absolute best for a daughter she clearly adores.
If your first reaction to a vulnerable child is to question whether they should exist, then the issue is not the child. The issue is what has happened to our capacity for empathy.
We do not often talk enough about the psychological trauma carried by victims of kidnapping.
Some months ago, I met a Catholic priest who had just been released after spending more than a month in captivity. Physically, he was free. But emotionally and psychologically, the experience was still haunting him.
You could not make sudden loud noises around him. Every sharp sound startled him because, to his mind, it felt like gunfire all over again. Fear had settled deeply into his nervous system. At the time, he was already undergoing therapy to help him recover from the trauma.
Sometimes, when we discuss kidnapping, we focus only on the period of captivity and ransom. But many victims continue suffering long after they regain their freedom. Some return home alive, yet deeply wounded within.
This is why insecurity is not just a political issue. It is also a human and psychological crisis.
@Ayo_Mhidey I reckon Professor Abiola Sanni mentioned that there is an ongoing effort to birth Sports Law as a Course in UNILAG, especially after the inauguration of the UNILAG Sports Law Club. Might be worth a look.
Shit league or not, this thing happens.
They'll get training compensation at least if they registered him as an amateur when he was training or playing with them.
My world cup early predictions
โข Argentina won't get to the knockout stage
โข France will be out in the Quarter Final
โข An African country will get to the Semi Final
โข Portugal will win the World Cup.
Spending my final semester at UNILAG in Singapore ๐ธ๐ฌ.
Selected for the prestigious IRIS@NUSingapore programme:
๏ฟฝ๏ฟฝ 4,500+ applicants
๐ 37 selected globally
๐ Only African in the cohort
Grateful for every opportunity and everyone who made this possible. ๐
Leeemao
Don't even start
Nigerians stayed up to watch the Golden Eaglets around 2015 or so when Osimhen and Co won it.
If Nigerians care for something, they'll stay up and you don't get to determine whether it's fake love or not. Am I supposed to love BBall same way as footy?
@divaUTD_ Just drew up numbers from thin air. You used the maximum number of games playable in each competition, bar the league that's fixed. So, how did you arrive at the computation of 700 games. Knockouts is new to you?
@blavkmoss@FabrizioRomano@Akodu_Jr Move Abeg
If he didn't go on a loan last season, you think it's a season where we're only playing PL football that he'd go? Lmao
The lad is good enough and he'll stay.