What next? For a five-time Olympian, a degree and new ways of thinking

The question is,” as she has said, “when you are finished with sport, where do you want to continue? It’s important to find out where you fit in, where you can add value and what you want to bring to the table.”She ultimately came to realise that table tennis did not define her. There was more. So much more. 

Then she found a unique programme called MAiSI, a graduate degree focusing on ethics in sports governance. Olympic Solidarity, through its Entourage unit, supports the programme, run through six European universities. Through an Olympic Solidarity scholarship, Kaffo earned her degree in 2021, centred on the governance of disability sport.

A few months before graduation, she was appointed to the Lagos State Sports Commission. In 2022, she stood for, and won, election as Vice-President of the Nigerian Para-Swimming Federation. These, she said, announce first steps: “How can I make an impact with what I learnt in this programme?”

Appointment to a coveted post – that is to be celebrated, to be sure. But winning election in a male-dominated environment? At the federation level, that can profoundly speak to the swirl of change. Kaffo said she made plain in her campaign that she “understands now what it takes to govern by studying ethics and integrated management.”

She also said a few moments later, “Being a woman doesn’t mean I am weak. It means I am filling a gap.” If table tennis, on the one hand, and disability sports governance, on the other, seem worlds apart — well, yes.

But no. To play table tennis, you need? Bats, a ball, a net (or a board or even boxes) and then almost anything for the table — a door, a table (obviously), a sheet of marine plywood (widely available throughout the world), school desks pushed together, anything.

Further, for girls and women especially, what clothing barriers might table tennis present to play? Typically, none. In a word, table tennis is — inclusive.

When, like Bose Kaffo, you’re used to seeing the world through a prism of inclusivity, and you have two years to work on what’s next, it’s perhaps only natural to look around at, say, sport for those who are disabled and ask, first, what does “disabled” mean, second, what governance is in place for disabled sport and, most important, what sorts of governance structures should there be?

The challenges — and opportunities — ahead are real, indeed. Example: the essential of, she said, a never-before-in-Nigeria educational seminar for para-swimmers. “You have to do this before asking your athletes to have the same knowledge,” she said.

Another: an elite para-swimmer already assuredly knows, though, how to swim, and well. What about someone disabled who, for instance, wants to learn to swim? What rules, policies, guidelines ought to be in place to ensure safety, consistency and more?

She said, “The impact is not only getting a job. It’s not only fulfilling the job’s descriptions. It is in what you are. It’s all of that in this part of the world.”

What’s next? She’s very clear: “You are going to move certain things out of the way and put certain things in the way.” She paused. “And that is what I am.”