Kemi Ade-Adeniji
A couple of years ago, I had a first-hand experience of what it is to be discriminated against in the workplace, and for several months after that, I could not think straight; I was angry and sad at the same time.
Let me explain in brief- I finished my Ph.D in 2022, at the age of 58 years old. It was the achievement of a long term goal I set for myself in 2015 – to go back to school, get my Ph.D and lecture in Human Resource Management for the rest of my life, because I felt I was in a good position to teach young ones about work and how to make a success in their career having worked both in the private and public sectors for almost two decades.
Equipped with very good results, I sought to work in the private and public institutions, but I was rejected because of an unwritten policy of not employing older people. I felt lost for a couple of years after that until I was speaking with the owner of an NGO for people with disabilities in Lagos State, and he mentioned some of the challenges of PWDS in the employment market. I immediately understood just a tiny bit of what they go through.
The questions on my mind since then have been: what exactly can help these in a country where people with a body advantage are struggling? Why are they disabled, or what exactly makes them disabled? Is justice enough, or should we aim to equalise them with other members of the nation?
The first question is not rocket science. As a nation, we already have legislation in place – the Disability Act of 2018, with a commission to help carry out the responsibilities. It will be great to see them carrying out the requirements of the Act such as provision of ramps in public buildings to help accessibility in and out of buildings. There is also a need for the provision of adequate transportation from collaboration with private transport owners, and sensitising the public to give some consideration to PWDs in parks.
The point is we could be more deliberate and strategic in developing an intervention to help PWDs. Everyone can start from sensitizing their own neighbours including PWDs themselves. Everyone needs to acknowledge PWDs may need special attention at different levels. But this does not mean they are less humans just because they have an impairment.
To ensure justice and equity, PWDs education must be taken seriously. We may consider options of whether it should be an inclusive education or not is another topic entirely as Nigeria is yet to put in place facilities, equipment and resources that will make this work.
For instance, if inclusive education becomes the best option, it would mean each school will need a special needs teacher in each class. For now it is difficult to determine if we are truly ready for this. Though it is wise and good to start the process now by encouraging more people to study courses in special needs in colleges as well as motivating such teachers in ways that can strengthen their resolve.
The second question sounds a bit funny. However, since I started reading on PWDS, I have discovered a lot of things that otherwise were unknown, unclear, and even misunderstood. To put it simply, my reading showed that the fact that someone has an impairment does not necessarily make them disabled. We cannot provide or render the necessary assistance that has caused disability. For example, a visually impaired person is enabled if he is given the equipment and resources and personnel that will make learning and interaction easy.
So, all we need to do is enable the person by providing the necessary environment. The level of intelligence and competence of such a person is limited to what he is taught and assimilates, which is the case with every human being. In essence, he could be as good in class or work as the next person but may need the helping hand of something or someone in some areas like mobility, which, if he has access to freely, will give him fulfilment and joy.
To answer my question, then, PWDS can cross that barrier of disability with what society empowers them with. Secondly, having an impairment is not a sickness such that they are not able to do anything; rather, they are only limited in certain tasks through no fault of theirs.
Another perspective by Anita Silvers in Amucheazi and Nwankwo (2020) in their analysis of the Disability Act of 2018, is the argument centred around ” whether justice for PWDs is based only on the presence, recognition of people with disabilities or whether in a just society, they must be equity for all?
To answer this, Silvers posited that the problem of our world with PWDs is not just a matter of justice but equality.”First we must decide whether the disadvantages characteristically associated with those differences we identify as physical, sensory or cognitive impairment are artificial or natural.
To add to the above, Silvers, we must come to terms with whether we are morally or politically obligated to mitigate the specific kinds of disadvantage occasioned by these sorts of differences, that is, whether we are required to equalise people because of their disabilities”. For anyone who has ever faced discrimination before, the concept of equalisation will be a good option- let society take away the barriers, let an equal platform be created that will ensure inclusivity.
#Olukemi Ade-Adeniji, PhD is a passionate workplace HR consultant
