Gov. Sanwo-Olu to Receive Autistic Cyclist, Kanyeyachukwu Tagbo-Okeke, Today

The Lagos State government on Wednesday warmly welcomed 16 year-old autistic cyclist, Kanyeyachukwu Tagbo-Okeke, as he arrived the state with his team on an endurance journey from Enugu State.

The visit is part of Kanyeyachukwu’s “Ride with Kanye” campaign, aimed at raising autism awareness.

The team will be formally received by Lagos State Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, at the State House today as part of World Autism Awareness Day activities. 

Kanyeyachukwu, accompanied by his parents, members of the Kanyeyachukwu Autism Foundation, cycling officials, and a medical support team, was received by Lagos State Commissioner for Youth and Social Development, Mobolaji Ogunlende.  Ogunlende who praised Kanyeyachukwu’s courage and determination, commended his parents for their dedication.

“As you can see here we have our Ibile Youths and Leadership Academy that was inaugurated couple of weeks ago. They are here to receive Kanye again.  In our youth inclusion, we ensure everybody is carried along as no one is ultimately left behind. This is deliberate on our part and intentional also to ensure we have people on ground to welcome Kanye.

The commissioner also stressed that the Babajide Sanwo-Olu administration in the state is an all-inclusive one that gives room to youths and those with disability to flourish.

“Under our Youth and Social Development, as you are aware,  we have the Lagos State Office for Disability Affairs and of course, tomorrow (Thursday) is World Autism Day where we will show how we care for our young ones. There is also the Lagos State Sports Commission handling everything about youth and sports,” Ogunlende stressed.

“Our Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu will officially receive Kanye and his entire team tomorrow (Thursday). This is to show that we practice an all-inclusive government  because there’s ability in disability and the young person and young people are very important to any development of any country. We will continue to showcase this though avenues like this,” Mobolaji Ogunlende concluded. 

Kanyeyachukwu’s father, Tagbo Okeke, thanked the Lagos State government for the warm reception.

“We did this basically to create awareness. Kanyeyachukwu won the Guinness world record last Year for having the largest painting on canvas which was unveiled in Abuja. 

“We know that autism awareness is a very big problem all over the world not just in Nigeria, Lagos or Abuja and so we decided this year, in other to mark the World Autism Day, decided to take on this challenge to ride our bicycle all the way from Enugu to Lagos.”

World Autism Awareness Day or World Autism Acceptance Day is an internationally recognized day (observed annually on 2 April) that encourages member states of the United Nations to take measures to raise global awareness of autism, promote the acceptance, appreciation and inclusion of autistic individuals and recognize such individuals’ local and global contributions.

The date was chosen to mark the beginning of World Autism Awareness Month, an observance which serves a similar purpose.