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‘As visually impaired persons, we suffer from cradle to grave’
By Job Osazuwa
Many of them were born blind. Some others were plunged into the world of darkness by an illness, accident or other circumstances that they never bargained for.
For this set of visually impaired persons, life has been unkind and hellish. The society continually casts a dark shadow over them through social discrimination, rejection and gross neglect.
Many of them have had to endure ridicule in public places. The women among them are confronted with sexual abuse, even as only a few of such incidents get reported in the media. For the victims, their woes are compounded by the fact that society pays little attention to visually impaired persons and others living with disability.
In handling sexual abuses, it was gathered that many of the victims simply prefer to keep the pathetic details to themselves to avoid suffering further social stigma.
Chairman of the Nigerian Association of the Blind, Ogun State Chapter, Dr. Ebonhor Michael Ndidi, painted a gory picture of what blind people go through in Ogun and Nigeria in general. He told the reporter that the suffering of the blind was from cradle to the grave.
In spite of all this, many visually impaired persons have refused to allow their dark world to stifle their dreams to attain greatness in life. But the chairman lamented that a blind person’s agony starts right from his or her own immediate family.
Ndidi holds a Ph.D in Counselling Psychology from the Olabisi Onabanjo University, Ago Iwoye, Ogun State. He noted that being blind shouldn’t be the end of the world for anyone, and asserted that, with the right orientation, education and skills, there are only a few things a fully sighted person could do that the blind could not.
The visually impaired are those whose eyes deviate from the norm in structure and function. Accordingly, there are three forms of visual impairment. They are the blind, the partially blind and those who experience low vision. Persons suffering from any of these impairments, especially in Nigeria, tend to face social, economic, academic, recreational and technological impediments because of their special status.
Ndidi said: “One of the challenges we face is social discrimination, which starts right from even the family. A situation whereby the emergence of blindness is greeted with shock, disbelief and denial will lead to the husband telling the wife to explain how the child became blind. Rejection sets in, instead of accepting the reality immediately. They will start praying and wishing the situation back to sender. But, in the long run, the blind (child) has come to stay.
“While all these are going on between the parents, the child is already being discriminated against, even among his or her siblings. It naturally poses a threat to self-esteem. There is usually a delay when it is time for the blind child to begin schooling because of the special educational needs of the child. As a matter of fact, the amount of money that is needed to train a blind child in school will be enough to sponsor four non-disabled children. That is one of the reasons you see an 18-year-old blind pupil in primary school. It becomes difficult, if not impossible, for such a child to move at the same pace with his peers.”
He told the reporter that such a scenario pushes the parents to shift attention to the able-bodied siblings, who they believe have a brighter future, even after graduating from higher institutions.
He implored parents to accept all children the way they are, because: “He who believes in the theory of existence must be able to live with it, whether good or bad.”
Using himself as an example, he said he is a better person today because his parents and others didn’t reject him.
Said Ndidi: “People with blindness should not be seen as outcasts or as the result of a curse. It can happen to anybody through accident. Blind people should not be kept indoors, because there are various places they can go to seek help to improve their lives.”
In his words, whatever time and money is invested in the welfare of the blind could be likened to social insurance, with immeasurable results.
He noted that it becomes more frustrating when the visually impaired are able to wiggle through the rigours and riddles of university education and he is at the end told by prospective employers that he got his certificate based on sympathy and not by merit.
He noted: “Sympathy is not what we need but empathy. Some companies tell us that there are no facilities for us to work, whereas what we need is simple understanding. The reason is that we were able to survive the academic walls (of higher institutions) with the same facilities available to our sighted colleagues. Some of our members have master’s degrees in different fields but are still roaming the streets searching for jobs.
“If one is lucky to get a job after all the hurdles, one would also be faced with in-laws who are never ready to accept a blind man or woman as an in-law. Most times, as a young blind man dating a lady, the in-laws will say it to your face that you will become a liability to their daughter when you are eventually married.”
However, Ndidi said parents should not be entirely blamed for being sceptical in giving out their sighted children to blind people for marriage. He advised that the partners should be allowed to choose whom their hearts cherish.
The chairman, who works as a counsellor at the Federal Government College, Odogbolu, Ogun State, said even though he had a good job, it had not eradicated all the discriminations attached to blindness. He told Daily Sun that there were conferences and seminars he ought to have attended outside the state or country that he was screened out of on the excuse that the management could not sponsor him and his guard.
He expleined that it was pertinent to recognise that there were special people working along with others, as such, organisations should take the convenience of these individuals into cognizance.
“I have never fallen into an open gutter simply because I took orientation and mobility training in school,” he said.
Also lamenting the predicaments of visually impaired persons, General Secretary of the association, Mr. Joseph Bulugbe, said fear on the part of parents over what a blind child would become in future most times negatively affects the child’s future. He explained that when fear sets in, the parents would begin to pamper the child, preventing the child from performing most house chores, among other activities.
On how life could be better for the visually impaired in Nigeria, Ndidi called on governments at all levels to promulgate a law that caters for special people in a comprehensive way. He said such a law exists only in Lagos State, whereby all disabled persons enjoy preferential treatment while using public facilities. He listed such benefits as free education, free rides in government-owned buses, and discount on bills incurred at public hospitals, among others.
He stated that a bill to attract similar benefits had passed through the first reading at the Ogun State House of Assembly. He, however, appealed to the authorities in the state to emulate what is happening in Lagos and give the bill speedy consideration.
According to him, the situation is grave.
“No law is set apart in the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria for clusters of disability,” he said with regret.
As a result, physically challenged persons, particularly the visually impaired, are prone to abuse for lack of laws to protect them. He expressed confidence that, if the Nigerian government pays more attention to protecting the physically challenged from all forms of abuse and punishes offenders, the discrimination against them by the larger society would be curtailed.
“Fear of how the child will cope will lead to over-protection. This is another challenge that parents must help to resolve,” Bulugbe said.
As part of efforts to realise their aspirations, members of the group recently held an election in Ilaro, Ogun State. The process was supervised by the Director for Rehabilitation, Ministry of Women Affairs and Social Development in the state, as well as the national officers from the Nigerian Association of the Blind.
It was gathered that 11 new members of the executive, who were carefully elected, renewed their commitment to prevail on the government to do the needful in making life more pleasant for blind people in the state and in Nigeria as a whole.
Ndidi said blind people are in need of support in different ways. Apart from those who went to school among their members, he told the reporter that many other visually impaired men and women are proficient in craftwork and need small, low-interest loans to run their trades.
The chairman affirmed that the only way to take blind people off the streets as beggars is by empowering them and patronising their products. He, however, advised those who depend on begging to improve on themselves by taking to vocational training.
“We are also planning to organise an awareness campaign to let people know that, when you are blind, your life has not ended. But in doing this, we need many sighted volunteers to help us coordinate the walk. We need to buy more mobility canes for our members who will be participating. The white cane costs N6,000, and many members don’t have it,” he said.
He said visually impaired people wishing to join the association for free should send an email to [email protected], assuring that the executives would be ready to assist such persons.
