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•Visually impaired UTME candidates narrate ordeals, challenges, aspirations
From Magnus Eze, Enugu
It was a good case of ability in disability as a set of 27 visually impaired candidates from states in the defunct Eastern Region sat for this year’s Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) on Thursday, April 27, in Enugu.
Under the special arrangement, visually impaired persons are provided with opportunity to realise their dreams of acquiring tertiary education.
Before now, many thought that this set of people was just given admission in any institutions of their choice with the prerequisite entrance examination. But that is not the case as Daily Sun gathered that they also experience ‘JAMB fever,’ and interestingly, they answer the same set of questions administered to the other candidates.
Coordinator of the Enugu Centre, Prof. Mosto Onuoha, said the exercise was part of efforts made by the Registrar of JAMB, Prof. Ishaq Oloyede, to ensure inclusiveness and to provide equal opportunities for every Nigerian.
He said that JAMB under Oloyede had conceived the idea of creating Jamb Equal Opportunity Group (JEOG), tertiary matriculation examinations would be conducted for the visually impaired and other physically challenged persons, adding that the exercise started in 2017 with centres in Lagos, Enugu, Abuja and Kano but was later extended to about 11 centres.
“What people don’t know is that physically challenged persons like blind students are also in the universities. They register, fill JAMB forms and qualify like other students, as other students use Computer Based Test (CBT), the blind students use braille, marker board, typewriter and specialized laptops.
“The number dropped this year nationally in many centres. We expected 28 students here in Enugu but 27 showed up as of Wednesday night,” he said.
He added that the board was able to contact them in advance, requested them to come with a guide, put them in a hotel, feed them and also gave them a token assistance.
One of the candidates, Chidera Ogili, who hails from Enugu Ezike in Enugu State, said she did not encounter any challenge during the examination, stating that she was confident of making high grades and fulfilling her dream of studying law at the University of Nigeria.
“The exam was easy for me. It wasn’t as difficult as I thought it would be. I expect to make good results. What is motivating me to go further in academics is that I don’t want to depend on anyone. I want to be independent. I also want to make my family proud.
“I also want to tell people that just because someone has a disability or is handicapped does not stop the person from being what he wants to become. I want to study Law. I want to answer a Barrister. I want to be one of the respected lawyers in this country. I am not worried about competing with people who are sighted.
“I am not the first person that is studying law or is in the higher institution as a visually impaired person. I know some of them who are doing well. Some are even better than those who are seeing. It depends on your knowledge and your determination,” she enthused.
Ogili said the only thing that could be a challenge to her is that her speed may not be the same with “those who are sighted and the lecturer may not give extra time for people like us. Another challenge is that we need modern equipment like computer system. It will help us in typing without many errors.”
Another candidate, 18-year-old Joseph Okeke, who also intends to study law said that several challenges come with being visually impaired but those challenges are not insurmountable.
Okeke explained: “There are definitely a lot of challenges that come with being visually impaired but we still have to manage. You know, we use braille to read but it is not easy to come by. There are novels or text books that you would want to read. It is not everyone that would have someone to come and read it for him.
“Yes, I am coming from a school where I have been taught to adapt to any situation. Like me now, I don’t see any difference between me and those who have their sights. So, I am not worried about any sort of competition.”
Also, 23-year-old Udo Gift Ime, who came from Akwa Ibom State, said she has passion for law but would also want to study journalism and linguistics. Ime wants to study law so she can defend rights of the less privileged in society.
On the prospect of competing with other students when she gains admission, she said: “I can compete with them. I think so because the way they learn is the same way we learn. There is no difference.”
For Igbokwe Nnamdi, the major challenge he foresees, aside finance, is “the uncertainties of the Nigerian academic calendar as a result of frequent strikes.
Nnamdi, who applied to study law, said he is motivated to read the course because he loves arguments and “I also love knowing things, I’m always curious but I have challenge with finance.”
He hopes to map out some strategies that will help him adapt to the academic environment, explaining that, “You know you are not the same as those who are privileged with sight and other abilities, when you then understudy your strengths and your weaknesses, you will now come up with strategies that will help you to manoeuvre and things will move smoothly.”
Another visually impaired applicant, David Chidimma, who hails from Abia State said that he applied to study mass communication. He was upbeat as he declared that he was not envisaging any challenges.
“I don’t have any challenges at all. I can read, I can write. Those who are sighted can read and write, so, why won’t I be able to compete with them? So, we all do the same thing, hence I can compete with them.”
For Simone Marvellous, it is all about business. He wants to study business administration so he can contribute to addressing the challenge of youth unemployment in Rivers State. He currently runs a liquid soap manufacturing industry in Port Harcourt, a business he started while he was in primary school.
“I am going for business administration. The exam was good. There were places I didn’t cover while I was studying but the exam wasn’t too difficult. Yes, I am expecting a good result. From primary school, I have been in business.
“I run Marvellous Liquid Soap Resource company. I want to study business administration because I see the number of jobless youths on the streets of Port Harcourt. Some of them go into stealing or drugs. I see others hawking sachet water and other stuff. It doesn’t make sense.
“These things make me feel bad and I start having this feeling that I must actualise my vision. That is why I want to go into business.”
Meanwhile, no fewer than 30 candidates for the rescheduled 2023 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME), missed the examination in Abakaliki, Ebonyi State on Saturday, May 6, due to heavy rainfall.
Some of the candidates, including a physically challenged, also blamed unavailability of means of transportation and other avoidable circumstances for their Kissinger the exercise slated for 6:30am on that day.
They, have, therefore, appealed to the Federal Ministry of Education to intervene on their behalf by directing JAMB, to give them another opportunity, perhaps during the mop up examination.
Mr Mathew Odama, who brought his deaf and dumb cousin for the examination from Cross River State, said that the disappointment of the candidate over the examination started from the commercial vehicle that he boarded which broke down on the way and only to be repaired after the scheduled time had gone far.
He disclosed that he was at the same centre last month when there was network issue and in effort to avoid all obstacles that he left home by 3:00 am only to encounter the vehicular problem on the way which eventually led to the lateness as they arrived the examination centre around 8:00am.
One of the examination officials at Ebonyi State University, CTB Centre 1, Chinyere Agara said: “The situation perhaps did not allow them to get commercial vehicles or other means of transportation and they are not happy over the problem and there is nothing we can do about it. Personally, I was not happy because the children had spent a lot of time and resources too, I really felt for them.”
