Rasheedat Iliyas
At the recent White Cane Safety Day celebration in Ilorin, Rasheedat Iliyas interacted with some visually impaired women to gain an insight into their every day life, challenges and aspirations.
Navigating through the dark clouds
Amina Abodunrin is a middle aged woman of about forty years old. Although she is visually impaired, she has taken charge of her life, determined to live through the challenges that confront her every day.
Amina sells grains such as rice, beans, and maize to make ends meet. To restock her shop, she visits the popular Oja tuntun market in Ilorin moving from shops to shops until she has all she needs.
“I go to the market on my own. But sometimes I wait for my children to return from school so they could assist me. At some other time, I seek assistance from my neighbor’s children.”
When asked what assistance she wants from the Government, Amina asked back.
“Assistance? What kind of assistance?”
Amina seems to be an independent woman who is content with what she has and the amount of freedom she enjoys with her white cane. She seems unperturbed with the fact that her condition limits her freedom of movement, as she only goes out when it is necessary. Amina, however, expressed displeasure with people who presume that every physically challenged person is a beggar.
“Sometimes when I move around on the road or wait by the roadsides to board vehicles, people tuck in money into my hands. I find it irritating.”
At the White Cane Safety Day celebration in Ilorin, the Kwara State capital, Amina joined her counterparts on a walk to sensitize stakeholders about their plight and the need to create an inclusive society, in accordance with the 2024 theme, Promoting Inclusion, Celebrating Abilities and Advocating Access.
Being visually impaired, quite often, they require assistance to identify things such as money, condition of things, location and color. These, however, do not always come easy.
“People run away from us immediately when they see the cane or when they sense we want to ask them for favor. Sometimes we get stranded.” Amina recounts.
She pointed out that to the visually impaired, the white cane provides some level of independence and acts as a companion which helps them navigate their physical environment. She however, sensed that many able bodied persons do not feel comfortable with being with someone using the cane.
“Holding white cane doesn’t mean that blindness will transfer to you. Holding white cane doesn’t mean that you will also become a victim of blindness.
Amina Abodunrin (in black) and Rihanatu Isiaq at the National Blind Association, Kwara State office, State Library, Ilorin.
“We can’t think about those who behave otherwise to us, if not it will affect our mental wellbeing.”
Rihanatu Isiaq, a mother of two boys was one of the participants at the awareness walk. Her first son, a student in senior secondary school accompanied her to the event. She explained that her second child has speech impairment and had been enrolled at the School For Special Needs at Apata Yakuba, in Kwara State.
Rihanatu described herself as a hardworking mother who cares for her children despite being abandoned by her husband.
“You know when someone is like we are, people don’t want to be around us. He exists like he does not exist.”
She described people’s attitude towards persons with disabilities as appalling and wished their perspectives about her kind could change for the better.
“People are not the same. Some people will help. Some people will run away from us when we seek assistance for guidance on the road. We can’t think about those who behave otherwise to us, if not it will affect our mental wellbeing.”
Relying on Technology for access
Iyanuoluwa Arantiola is a one hundred level student of University of Ilorin, Unilorin. Iyanuoluwa described the roads as difficult terrain for persons with disabilities and would want it to be a lot better.
“Some roads are in bad condition and people are not always willing to assist.”
She decried the low level of awareness amongst the abled bodied people about the white cane used by visually impaired persons, a situation she said, posed a challenge to persons with disabilities in the society.
When asked how she moves from one place to another considering her safety and insecurity issues in the country, Iyanuoluwa said she puts her trust in God to guide her to safety.
“We don’t have any other option, we just take it that we are in God’s hands.”
Iyanuoluwa wants to be a journalist in future and had applied to study Mass Communication at the University of Ilorin. With a JAMB score of 264, she believed she was on course to fulfilling her ambition. However, this was not so as she was offered admission at the University to study Social Studies Education.
“I was not happy o.” She said, expressing her displeasure when she found out she was given another course to study.
Although she had written another JAMB in 2024 for the same course at the University of Lagos, Iyanuoluwa wished Unilorin would grant her a chance to live her dream.
Iyanuoluwa Arantiola
On how she navigates her way in the University environment, she explained that with some apps, she is able to navigate her locations and identify things, including money. To identify which amount she has, Iyanuoluwa uses an app, “cash reader”, which helps her identify how much she has with her.
“We download the app on our phone. I will put the money infront of my phone camera and it will be able to tell me the amount.
“There’s another one. It’s not an app, it’s like a customer care service. It is called “Be My Eyes.” It is used through video call. You can call them when you want to identify things around you, or you need someone to read out a text. I use it on the street too.”
Discrimination Against Persons With Disabilities Prohibition Act: Between Fiction and Reality.
In 2018, the Federal Government established the Discrimination Against Persons With Disabilities Prohibition Act. The Act was to protect and enforce the rights of persons with disabilities. It also provided for the prosecution of anyone who contravenes it. One notable provision of the Act is the five years it gave for public structures and automobiles to be restructured to allow easy access to persons with disabilities. These structures include hotels, banks, worship centers, schools and the like.
At the event to commemorate the 2024 White Cane Safety Day, the Nigeria Blind Association demanded full implementation of the Act. The Kwara State Chairman of the association, Akeem Lawal regretted that not much efforts had been made to ensure an inclusive society where persons with disabilities will not be constrained to specific places and regularly seek assistance to carry out their daily needs.
Lawal decried the situation whereby public structures were still being constructed without putting into consideration accessibility needs of persons with disabilities.
Chairman,the National Blind Association, Kwara State, Akeem Lawal at an event.
He said five years given for public buildings and structures to be made accessible to persons with disabilities, had elapsed yet both old and newly built structures remained inaccessible to them. Lawal pointed out that accessibility ensures inclusion.
“After persons with disabilities must have accepted his or her condition, the first thing we expect from the government is to give access. When you give equal and unfettered access to persons with disabilities, then you will discover that there is no limit to the extent that which they can perform.”
A Specialist, People Operations and Change, Ogechukwu Muoneme observed that the Nigerian environment was not built with physically challenged persons in mind, a situation she said, prevents them from living their full potential.
“Yes, very key but our society… our environment .. our system was not built to be so. To get this right, the mindset of seeing the physically challenged as disabled and beggars need to stop. The environment needs to be equitable and the system built to ensure their basic means of survival are also covered by building robust inclusive and accessible infrastructure.”
To improve the lives of persons with disabilities in Nigeria, we must shift public perceptions to see them as capable individuals rather than dependents. Stronger enforcement of existing laws, such as the Discrimination Against Persons with Disabilities Act, is essential. Investment in accessible infrastructure, including public transportation and facilities, is crucial.
Inclusive education and employment opportunities should be promoted through vocational training and anti-discrimination policies. Additionally, strengthening healthcare services and social support systems, along with active collaboration among government, private sectors, and communities, will help ensure that the needs of persons with disabilities are met effectively.”
#Rasheedat Iliyas,a 2024 Women in Journalism Fellow under the Africa Foundation for Young Media Professionals, completed this story as a fellowship requirement.
