WHY I ESTABLISHED TWINS AND MULTIPLE BIRTHS SPECIAL SPORTING EVENTS—KENNETH ONYEISI REVEALS

MEET KENNETH ONYEISI PIONEER FOUNDER OF MULTIPLE BIRTHS SPORTING CHAMPIONSHIP

—-WHY I ESTABLISHED TWINS AND MULTIPLE BIRTHS SPECIAL SPORTING EVENTS—KENNETH ONYEISI REVEALS

The growth of having several sporting events specially designated for people of Multiple Births has received accolades across Rivers state and elsewhere beyond where the founder Mr. Kenneth Onyeisi resides. Moved by the fact that twins and multiple births children were once regarded as taboo and they were being killed by the people of old until Scottish woman Nurse Mary Slessor arrived in Southern Nigeria where she took up residence and campaigned for the stoppage of such atrocities where twins and multiple births were being killed. In the set up arising from the above Mr. Kenneth Onyeisi a Port Harcourt based Delta state born businessman and Law graduate is now campaigning for global recognition for the introduction of a worldwide Sporting event specially meant for people of Multiple births like you have Paralympics sporting events designated for people who are physically challenged. He intends to connect with celebrities in several endeavours such as the likes of musical icon P-Square, Super Eagles player John Mikel Obi, the Aneke female Nollywood thespians from Enugu state, the Olympics Athletic Champions Ezenwa, Wife of UBA Bank founder Awele Tony Elumelu and parents of Multiple births in the Nigerian society and global space.

He spoke to THE EAR WITNESS Publisher/Editor-In-Chief, Emeka Amaefula (+234) (0)8111813069 as he highlights his visions and objectives for the establishment of a global Multiple Births Olympics sporting event.

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May I meet you?

My name is Kenneth Onyeisi Chukwudumebi, the Executive Director Chukwudumebi Twins Foundation and the pioneer of Twins and Multiple Birth Sporting events. I am a twin and I have battled with my twin brothers’ health for over 20 years now. It was during COVID-19 that I conceived the thought of the multiple Birth Sporting events. Immediately after the covid in October 2020, after sharing it with the members of the BOT, we started the process of registration which took up to three years (3years) before we got the trustee’s number. In November 2021, after we had waited for so long with no hope of the trustee’s number, we went ahead with faith to start the process of trade though we are yet to receive the certificate of trademark. 

 Can you tell us what other things you have been doing before now that you have a dream of organizing a special sporting event for people of Multiple births?

I am the Managing Director of Ken Harbor Ltd, Jickoh Marine & Shipping Agency, Legal Colours Quality Paint, and Executive Director of Chukwudumebi Twins Foundation, a graduate of Law from the National Open University. I am vast and I have a wealth of experience in business. Ken Harbor Ltd is the first ever company that Initiated the spraying of stone-coated roofing tiles in Nigeria, with over ten years(10yrs) experience, So, you can understand why the idea of Multiple Birth Sporting events is not a strange adventure to me. 

 How far have you gone in getting this NGO recognized by Sporting authorities in your country?

The essence of this interview is to draw the attention of those relevant sporting bodies to Chukwudumebi Twins Foundation so that our vision and purpose will be clear to all relevant authorities before we arrive at their doorpost. We believe this interview will give us the desired facelift and exposure that will grant us easy access to the relevant authorities. Though it is in our line of action, we are still constrained by the trademark certificate.

On 22nd December 2021, the Chukwudumebi Twins Foundation was formally inaugurated. The inauguration ceremony witnessed the presence of parents of multiple births, parents who are multiple births, and multiple births. At the inauguration ceremony, I as the Executive Director shared with the audience the mission and vision statement of the foundation as well as her thematic objectives. 

The mission of this NGO as a movement includes to provide platforms for social impact, opportunities, and empowerment for multiple births and their families while her vision is a greater world of experiences where multiple births discover, express, and maximize their potential. Our thematic well-tailored objectives include to provide a platform for multiple births to connect, network, socialize and be productive and advocacy for world peace through sports and charity works. 

 Beyond the inauguration, the foundation has achieved a lot of milestones to mention but a few. We gathered members of multiple birth families to act in the Odogwu Bitter Challenge event, which we believe will see the light of day one day. In May 2023, we gifted a set of twins with a bicycle during the Children’s Day celebration. We have also assisted a family with multiple births to pay for hospital bills, though they lost one of the babies.

Subsequently, in October 2023 we paid a courtesy visit to Mama Ngbafor Okereke in Amasu, Arochukwu in Arochukwu LGA, Abia State. She is the only surviving twin amongst those saved by Mary Slessor, the White Queen of Okoyong and the Scottish Missionary who stopped the sacrifice of twins in the 19th century. Where she took us through the storylines of Mary Slessor coming to Amasu, through the river, etc. It was indeed a wonderful experience for us at Twinsarchives. com the media arm of Chukwudumebi Twins Foundation. 

In December 2023, we organized a mini-sport event for members of multiple birth families to keep the spirit of our vision for the multiple-birth Olympics alive.  In February 2024, we started the Tag a Multiple Birth Challenge where we visited some of the Universities around our catchment area to ask students questions about successfully multiple births in Nigeria and beyond in various fields of endeavour. For instance, we asked them questions like, who is the mother of multiple births, who finished the 42km marathon at 53 years old. The answer is Dr Awele Tony Elumelu. We did ask about multiple births in the Nollywood industry etc. During the Easter celebration, we also gifted a mother of Multiple births with a live chicken. In all these events the foundation has also left the participants with a wonderful package to appreciate them.  You can view all these activities on our YouTube channel, Facebook Page, and TikTok @twinsarchives

How do we intend to identify and gather multiple births across the board? 

I mentioned earlier that I was born a twin and in one of our strategic meetings we told ourselves that we would start by first gathering the database of new-borns by collaborating with the National Population Commission and the Ministry Of  Health through the primary and secondary healthcare systems in Nigeria, and that can only be possible when status and a Law is backing what we doing., which will give rise to an exclusive unit or health care facilities for multiple births. We are also not ignorant of the fact that there are auxiliary healthcare centers like maternity etc. Now coming to already grown, we use both existing databases and we also do our due diligence by collaborating with Old Boys Association, community heads, etc. For instance, I grew up in Uzoakoli, where the popular actor Chinedu Ikedieze (Aka Aki) is from, he can tell that I was born twins and we grew up together, even though we are not Identical, we know people will try to manipulate the process but when we get to that bridge, we will cross it. As I said due to the delay we experienced during the registration with the CAC and subsequently that of the trademark, we are constrained, and that is the main reason we granted you this interview so that as we pay county visits to these authorities starting from the successful multiple births in the society to the government to galvanize our vision and achieve our goals in good time. Our mission and vision is a movement to provide platforms for social impact, opportunity, and empowerment for a greater world of experience where multiple births will express and maximize their potential.  The multiple birth Olympics is not the only platform we intended to create. But we are projecting it in the Light of the French Olympics Torch that is going around from one country to another. We have the twin’s adventure, like the Gulder Ultimate Search. We also have the pageantry etc. 

 What are your objectives and Road Map towards achieving this laudable dream of twins and multiple births special sports? 

Apart from the socio-economic values that our vision holds, which is part of the millennium goals. From our drawing board, apart from our intention to collaborate with the Healthcare system and the census board. We also intended to collaborate with the Ministry of Education, the Ministry of Sports is already our host to create Houses during inter-house for multiple births, even if none multiple births are members of that house It’s still ok. That will help it register in the minds of the younger generation, that there are exclusive platforms for multiple births From primary schools both private and government schools, same with the  Post-primary to the University NUGA games, which brings us to the national level, and am sure that University Of Port Harcourt will be glad to host the first edition of the multiple birth NUGA games, Because their Vice- Chancellor Prof Owanari Georgewill is multiple births. You see at this point we are now Interfacing with all the authorities of all the sporting bodies in Nigeria, from there to the National Olympics Committee then the African Union for the All-African Games. To the European Union, the United Nations, etc. That’s the more reason we are spreading our wings for us to engage in partnership deals to enable us to push our vision 

Before you reach this stage of gathering people of multiple births, how do you identify them in the whole gamut of several interests who may claim that they’re of multiple births?

In one of our strategic meetings, this question cropped up and we told ourselves that we have to start first by identifying the new-born by collaborating with both the primary and secondary health institutions you see that where this cannot be easily achieved where there’s no law or a statue that back this initiative up from our legislative arm of Government. But we looked at it in collaboration with the National Population Commission NPC, and the Ministry of Health. As you break it down to state levels where you have Commissioners of Health and Local government level, we have representatives of these Ministries. We intend to collaborate with these already existing parastatals by bringing in our staff by identifying the new-born and then collaborating with the health systems, even the auxiliary healthcare bodies such as the traditional birth attendants, Maternity Homes from where a good database of people of multiple births can be obtained.  

It is obvious that most children of multiple births are out of school due to paucity of funds by their parents, how can your organization, as an NGO, be able to send them back to school?

The Foundation is not all about all facets of society, I have children and I know what it takes to put my children in school, and for my children to be out of school it means I am not doing well. The twins and multiple births start from the grassroots, because if you use the up-to-bottom approach you may not get the desired results. But whichever one we use that yields the dividends for us, we will use it. As I have said before we will make sure that in every Primary school, we will have for example during the Inter House Sports, a House dedicated to Twins and Multiple births.  It may not be for twins and multiple births alone when every primary school has set out a place for twins and multiple births within the educational system. From there we move on to the post Primary educational system.   From there to tertiary institutions where we talk about the NUGA Games. We must have created a platform that during the Health and Physical Education period we take samples of names of twins and multiple births who have made an impact within the Health and Physical education activities. And when you come to academics, you talk about the basics such as Primary Sciences, and Social Studies we should be able to bring out questions that will stimulate the younger generations to know that there are people of twins and multiple births and families of multiple births who have thrived through the academic system and other fields of endeavour and they were able to make it to the limelight. You talk about Tony Elumelu and Awele Elumelu, you talk about Serena and Vanesa Williams in Lawn Tennis sports, you talk about Super Eagles football player John Mikel Obi and his sister who is into Basket Ball playing, you talk about the Psquare brothers who are in the music industry. And you talk about the Aneke twin sisters who are in the Nollywood acting industry. That will enable us to give them the desired leverage to scale through in any field of their choice. By the way, we also intend to build a sports academy where it will be easier for us to maximize their potential. 

———————-Emeka Amaefula ————–+234(0)8111813069