I Don’t Drink, Smoke, But I Love Women – Adesokan, Paralympics Medallist

YAKUBU Olaide Adesokan a.k.a Agbarapo, once queried God why he was
born as a cripple. Today, he is thanking heavens for his case, believing that
his physical form has challenged him to become world record holder of
Commonwealth and Olympic height. The father of three from Aresa Compound of
Ibadan City reveals many interesting sides of his life in this interview: Excerpt:

Not at all. I remain the same person but a lot of people
do not understand that it is pretty difficult to respond to the numerous phone
calls I receive daily since I returned from London. Most of the time, I’m on
the wheel and you know with my condition, I use one hand on the steering on the
other pressing the throttle or applying the breaks so it is difficult driving
and receiving telephone calls at the same time. Most of the time , I ask the
fellow sitting beside me to pick the calls on my behalf and ask the caller to
ring me later. Not everybody takes this in good faith while some people
insinuate ‘now that he is now an MON, he doesn’t answer calls again’

Apart from violating driving code,
by my special condition, it is difficult to pick all  phone calls.

How has the pressure been from
families and well-wishers since your world-record breaking performance at
London 2012 paralympics?
I wonder how you know about what I got through daily? It
has been very difficult staying focused since my return from the Olympics. At
home, on  the streets, people mill around me, some to show appreciation
for what I have done, others for what they hope to get from me. I am yet to get
enough rest.

From those who expect you to hand
out, do you notice a feeling of disappointment from those who think they should
have got more from you?
Actually those who feel disappointed show it openly even
without uttering their complaint. One cannot satisfy everybody but I do try
even till today to do my best especially those who live around my shoe repair
workshop. I think if I could satisfy 80% of people who expect goodies from me,
then I have tried. People should know that sport does not last. If you’re not
injured, your performance level can drop but some people don’t care about
achievement. Two top journalists and a photographer from Tribune are now
 on me. How do you think this happen? It is because I am successful and I
have to remain focused to sustain my relevance.

It is said that you like women a
lot and that you marry a new wife after every successful outing. Is this true?
I am married to  just one wife but I must confess that I love women a lot.
I don’t smoke, I don’t drink, so women are the only pleasure I have. Even at
that, I have to be sensible because I have to maintain my fitness and abstain
from sex for a lengthy period of time. Sometimes my wife complains about this.
I tell people that the period you devote to training and abstain from sex is
shorter than the one you have to enjoy yourself, so why not stay focused? When
I was preparing for the 2012 paralympics, I abstained from sex for four months.
We spent two months in South Korea, one month in London training camp and one
month at the competition proper.

Getting back home after four months
of abstinence, with an Olympic gold medal and a world record in the kitty, your
wife must have been ‘brutally dealt’ with on your arrival home?
(Laughter), No, I dare not do that. I had to deal gently
with my wife because she is still a nursing mother. The youngest of my kids is
one and a half years old, so I have to be careful how I jump on her.

Is your wife aware of your
‘flings’?
Yes, she has an idea I play around because we joke about
it at home.

Then as a Muslim, there is a
tendency you will have more wives in future?
I can’t rule out anything but for now I don’t think I
want her to share me with somebody else. My first love dropped me because she
was convinced not to marry a physically-challenged person. My wife was also
dissuaded from marrying me but she insisted I was the right man for her.
Whenever I remember her faithfulness and conviction to go ahead in spite of
what was said of me to her, I do not wish to have another wife.

Don’t you think any of the women
you relate with can entrap you with pregnancy?
I let the women know my stance, that the relationship is
for fun but when I discover that they are taking it too far, I severe relationship
with them. My wife hears stories about these but she knows she is safe.

During training camps, don’t you
experience temptation to flirt with your women teammates?
There was an example during one of our build-ups
 in Dubai but the lady switched off when she realised I was not playing
along.

What kind of women do you prefer?
Tall busty women drive me crazy. I don’t mind the colour
but the size matters to me. I fear no status, I’m a man and bold enough to
declare my intention to any woman who catches my fancy. It’s the man who holds
the key that can open the door. Women prefer to go for athletes because they
know we are fit and last a marathon in bed.

Tell us about the places you’ve
been to as far special sport is concerned?
My first time out of the country was in India at 2010, I
have been to Dubai in the United Arab Emirates and London, England. I aimed to
be at Beijing 2008 Olympics but then, the coaches felt I was raw and
inexperienced, that I lacked the nerve to live up to expectations of a big
occasion like the Olympics. Nigeria had a more experienced lifter in Roy
Ishiaku who I actually beat during the trials but I did not attend the
qualifier because Roy was there.

Do you believe in miracle?
Yes

If somebody came from the blues and
offered to heal you of disability, will you come forward?
There is no miracle that can heal me. None! In fact, I’m
grateful to God for creating me this way. No man knows the way of God! When I
was a kid, I always asked God why he created me like this of all the 13
children of my dad. Today, I’m not the richest of my dad’s children but the
most famous. I’m most grateful to God. That is why after lifting 180kg at
London 2012, the first thing on my mind was to bow and shout Alahu Akbar (God
is the greatest). It was the realisation of my ultimate dream. A world record
and an Olympic gold medal. What next do I ask God for?

As a world champion, describe your
experience for us?
Of all the championship I have attended, the easiest was
the London 2012 Paralympics. It was as if I was having fun, I felt no stress at
all, I was just having a field day because I had lifted 195kg before London.
Even in South Korea, I lifted 180kg so I was relaxed because I had prepared
myself for the gold medal.

But we saw fright in your face when
you were going for the lift. This contrasts to the confident situation you are
describing to us now?
You are right to observe that I was nervous. I felt
nervous not because of the lift but because of the size of the crowd. To be
honest with you, I had never performed in such a big stadium before. The size
of the crowd I saw was comparable to the one we see at football matches. I was
surprised that Europeans could troop out enmasse to watch a powerlifting event.
Immediately I switched attention to the event. I regained my composure. I am
not new to breaking world records. In India, I broke one but then the record
was not recognised by the International Olympic Committee.

We observe that most of your
generation are aging. How do you suggest  Nigeria finds replacements for
those of you who have been there?
In this sport, it is easy to know when an athlete is
declining. Your ability is measured in the lifts and everybody can see. It has
nothing to do with age but with technique, discipline and training. Most of us
doing Nigeria proud are of the same age as you rightly mentioned but if the
older athletes continue to dazzle the younger ones, what can you do other than
picking the best? As a lifter, if you miss a day of training, you missed a week
of fitness. Only four days ago, I lifted 190kg in training and that is a result
of persistent effort. Those of us who do not train regularly after the
Paralympics will suffer when there is a competition. For me, I won’t relent
because the next thing for me is the All-Africa Games gold. I have won the
Commonwealth and Olympic gold but not yet the gold at All Africa Games. It is
the next thing on my mind.

If the Paralympics had coincided
with the month of Ramadan, as a muslim, would you have been able to cope?
I would have missed the fasting, to be honest.
Powerlifting is not the sport you can do and fast. Even when we were on the
training tour in South Korea which coincided with the month of Ramadan I did
not fast but I called my wife to arrange the waivers for me according to
Islamic injunctions. I understand some people can fast and compete but in my
own case I can’t. It can lead to a serious health consequence.

Is there fixing or favouritism in
powerlifting as being feared in other sporting events?
It is more of a honest game than most other sports
because everybody can see your abilities but a coach or referee who does not
like you can halt your progress by stopping you from advancing from one category
to the other by alleging foul lift. Each time I go to a competition, I ask God
to protect me from the hands of a bitter referee who for one reason or the
other can rule your effort unacceptable by alleging foul lift. So far, God has
answered that prayer for me.

Do you have any magical incisions
on your wrist? Do you want the public to believe that your record-breaking
lifts are a natural phenomenon?
You can look at my wrists, check them, can you find any
magical incision? There is no juju in this sport. It’s God’s doing and
persistent training.

But you derive spiritual assistance
from the Synagogue church?
Pastor T.B. Joshua gave me the sum of N1 million and a
car for my effort at the Commonwealth Games in India in 2010 and nothing more
than that. As a Muslim, Pastor T.B Joshua never preached Christianity to me and
each time I drive the Toyota Camry car he gave me, I pray that God bless him
abundantly. When in 2010, one of my coaches informed that a call from Lagos
asked me to attend a reception for the Commonwealth Games medallists at the
Synagogue, I asked ‘who is T.B. Joshua? When he announced the donation, I felt
it was not yet time for me to ride a car but to sell it and use the proceeds to
complete the house I was building.

As if he knew what was on my mind,
T.B. Joshua came to me personally and advised that I should never sell the car.
He said I would get plenty of blessings riding the car. The car was of immense
help to me as I tried to complete my house.

So Pastor T.B. Joshua is more of a
philanthropist to me than anything else. When the Commonwealth contingent was
with him in 2010, somebody hinted him that it was three days to Eid-il-Fitri
(Ileya) festival. He called me aside and handed an additional fifty thousand
naira (N50,000) to my package and said if driving my car would be a problem, he
was ready to pay N30,000 for driving lessons for me. Like I say, each day I
live, I pray for TB Joshua.

After all these achievements, do
you intend to go back to shoe repairing?
It will be difficult for me to go back to the business.
Though it is the trade that gave me my wife and my 16 year old daughter, yet I
don’t have the energy to go to the market, procure raw materials and return to
the workshop. It is too strenuous for my condition. However, I’m still in love
with shoes and I hope I can open a factory, travel abroad and stock my shops
with quality, up to date materials.

How do you relax?
I’m not the type that goes clubbing or wining but I like
to listen to fuji music of Osupa Saheed and Obesere when I am at home or in the
car.

What is your advice to special
sports athletes?
I will advise they marry early so that they can raise
and cater for their children when they are young and energetic.

Immediately I saw him, I knew
he would smash world record –Coach Taofeek Aransi

TAOFEEK Aransi is a proud man. He
is the coach who discovered Nigeria’s world record holder in paralifting,
Yakubu Adesokan.

Describing his encounter with
Adesokan, Aransi told Tribunesport: “Shortly after the 2002 National Sports
Festival in Abuja, I saw him at the Lekan Salami Stadium playing table tennis.”

“I asked him to join me at the
gym for a session in powerlifting and on the first day, he lifted 85kg to the
surprise of everybody. That is how I called him ‘Agbara po, (The powerful
one).”

Aransi said with the build and the
physique, the only thing he needed to polish in Adesokan is the technique. “I
challenged him that he could beat the  world if he could venture into
powerlifting. He is physically-endowed for the sport and I’m happy it has paid
off.”

Aransi is an able-bodied coach and
when asked how he gets the best from his special sports athletes who naturally
do not like mentors who are not their kind, he replied: “I come to their level,
eat from the same plate, sleep in the same bed and sometimes ride in the wheel
chairs with them. If you do this, you won’t have any problem with them.”

Aransi expects more from Adesokan.

“World record and the national
honour have not changed him. He remains the same and his hunger to improve
remains. He will continue to be the best in his category, no doubt.”