BY PAUL EREWUBA
FOLUKE Shittu – Habibat, winner of the women’s singles event at the recently concluded CBN sponsored Wheelchair tennis championship is indeed a happy woman.
The mother of two and HND graduate of Lagos State Polytechnic, was grateful to all and her mind is now focused on the Paralympics in Rio this summer.
Recalling how she delved into the world of Wheelchair Tennis, the Ogun State – born athlete said her journey into the world of Tennis was by dint of hard work, focus and dedication.
The dark complexioned athlete said she had to literarily ‘abandon’ her kids for training so that she could achieve greatness. Shittu who once played Table tennis and Wheelchair Basketball before concentrating on Tennis, became physically challenged at a tender age.
But rather than allow her condition demoralise her, she had long picked up herself to face the future. Today, she is a champion. “I became physically challenged as a result of polio”, she told Saturday Sports in Lagos after beating her opponent at the final of the CBN female tennis championship.
Continuing, She said “I started walking before age one, so my parents told me. But one day, after I woke up from sleep, I could not walk again. And when I was rushed to the hospital and diagnosed, I was said to be suffering from polio. And that began my journey in the world of disability.” She said.
“My parents did not relent in sending me to School. I attended Shokunbi Primary School after which I went to Model High School, Edioro, Mushin, Lagos for my Secondary education.
‘While in School, I developed interest in sports. I was motivated to play Tennis because I have much interest in it. When I started sports, I first played Table tennis but when I was told that CBN Wheelchair Tennis championship had started, I joined tennis. “My first tournament was the wheelchair tennis sponsored by Fanta and New Era Wheelchair Tennis where I was beaten at the semi finals.
“But I would say that my first CBN championship opened my eyes and ignited much of my interest. I was beaten in the semis. Last year, I got to the final and was beaten by Remi Babasanya and I swore that this year I would not play the role of a second fiddle.
“I trained hard, went to the gym very early in the morning and literarily left my kids. It was a sacrifice I hard to make.”
Recalling how she met and married her equally physically challenged husband, Foluke said it was a hard decision that she had to take, but thanked God that she chose her heartthrob who today has become her source of joy.
“I met my husband while we were training together in camp as physically challenged athletes. We talked as friends and he was my trainer. It was like a – coach- athlete relationship. But he used to write love letters to me, telling me ‘I love you, I want to marry you.’ But I would tell him ‘please I won’t marry you. I said I would not marry a physically challenged person considering my own condition too.
“But the more I refused him, the more I found out that I could not do without him. He is caring, tender and intelligent. At last, he told me that both of us being physically challenged does not matter. He lifted me up that day and gave me a deep kiss, that was it. I fell for him.
“And today, the marriage is blessed with two kids a boy and a girl.”
And in the face of all these, how does Foluke cope, having to train, take care of her family and herself? She laughs.
“I am coping by the Grace of God. I will say it has not been rosy. Sometimes, I shed tears, but life goes on. However, my mother in law has been wonderful. She takes care of my kids, takes them to school and cooks for them while I am away training.”
However, Foluke’s headache is not only the challenges at home but the one posed by lack of equipment for the wheelchair tennis in the country.
“We (athletes) are going through a lot of challenges in Nigeria. There are no equipment for training. The ones available are obsolete and hardly can you use them to achieve greatness. The wheelchair we are using to play are outdated. We do not go for international competitions where we could be rated. They will always tell us there is no money. But the athletes have always coped. My aim now is to be a world champion,” she enthused.