March is a unique month which celebrates women and their inspirational stories. The co-founder of AccessTech Innovation and Research Center, Emmanuella Akinola is worth celebrating. Her story is that of love, resilience and commitment towards breaking the bias against people with disability. This two-time US Government exchange alumnus is driven by the need to devise innovative solutions for the inclusion of persons. In this interview with EVELYN OSAGIE, Mrs. Akinola speaks on her experience being married to a visually impaired tech guru.
Being a woman for me means being a nurturer. We don’t only nurture children, we nurture dreams. It means looking elegant even in the midst of storms. Marrying a visually impaired person comes with its challenges just like every other relationship. It also comes with mixed reception. Some people see me and say ‘eya’ as an expression of pity. Some see you and are “wowed”, surprised that a beautiful sighted lady is married to a visually impaired man. Others are like ‘so you want to marry someone you want to exploit ehh!” But a few people just take it like that. I’ve grown to understand people have a right to their opinion due to what they are exposed to. And I am determined to break the bias against people living with disability, particularly with people that are visually impaired.
On how I’ve been able to cope, I must say communicating with my husband has helped me cope more than anything else.
When we got married his major source of income was from teaching blind people how to use the windows system applications and repairing computer hardware. In the process of assisting with operations of the business, I got interested in the assistive technology industry. In short, marrying my darling Opeolu Akinola inspired my career path. And the rest is history.
Our love story
I cannot express in words how much I love Opeolu. We met at a stakeholders meeting on inclusive education in Lagos State in 2006 while I was practicing as a journalist with a magazine on disability. One thing that attracted me to him was the tone of his voice and his romantic ways of using words. He said “I love you” first. Though it was not love at first sight, we got fond of each other quickly. He was then with a technical professional on the Lagos State Inclusive Education project. We found common interests and became friends and later got married in 2008.
And although I had met him twice again, it was always at a distance. And as fate would have it I found myself having to return a camera I had collected from his boss to his house at Ikorodu. That was the first time we had physical contact. I remember the pleasant way he welcomed me when I reached his house. He hugged me and later told me he felt really good about it. I must confess that the hug was pleasant for me too but it was nothing serious at the time.
From then on, we started talking a lot on the phone, mostly at night during the Extra-Cool hours when people could call free between twelve midnight and 4 a.m. back then.
It was on one of those calls that he changed our usual conversation about everyday topics, like work, to the romantic ones; and later popped his intention of wanting me to be his wife. That was unexpected from someone I just considered a friend that I liked so much and respected for his unusual intelligence. But I did not refuse, I just told him to let me think about it. Yes, I thought hard about it. Immediately after that conversation, I thought about the implications of marrying a blind person. What will other people think? I thought of my mother and what the announcement of a potential blind son-in-law would be like for her. And I felt like saying no.
However, I could not because we had started missing each other a lot. Although, I can’t remember now, maybe a week or so later, when I paid him another visit at home, I gave my consent and here we are. I still tease him about his proposal that had no flowers in it or him going down on his knees with a ring in his hands!
From journalism to advocacy and now technology, my inspiration
Since I have a firsthand insight into how technology can empower individuals to lead fulfilling lives and sustain themselves; my personal experience propels me to devise innovative solutions for the inclusion of persons with disabilities, resulting in impactful problem-solving.
While I was practicing as a journalist after it got to a point I felt there was something more than just reporting stories. I saw a seat for myself in the disability community if one did not occupy it, it could remain empty. I also realised that as a spouse of a person with disabilities if I decide to disassociate myself from disability it will still rub off on me or my children. No matter my professional accomplishment I am still a visually impaired man’s wife. If people think blind people are incapable of making good decisions then I would be seen as a product of a bad choice. So I made it a point of duty to make my contribution in changing the narrative through advocacy. That was why I joined an advocacy group in 2011. In the process of our advocacy activities, I realised that there is a famine of technical capacity in providing accessibility solutions in Nigeria. My husband and a few others were the only people providing technical support to blind persons, while others provided for other clusters of disabilities. With experience I got under my husband’s tutelage, academic degrees and certifications, we launched Accesstech Innovation and Research Center to provide assistive technology tools and digital skills training for blind persons.
Growing up for you that impacted the woman you became
I was brought up by my grandparents and my single mother who worked as a clerical in the Federal Civil Service. As an introvert I lived in a small social circle. In that process I learned to take responsibility for my decisions. I learnt to manage businesses when I started hawking morning breakfast in Mofoloku, Oshodi and managed her petty grocery trading business between the ages of nine to 12 years old. Through these activities, I understand the value of money and learned that the only way you can stay out of poverty is to make money grow
My passion
My passion is basically tailored towards helping to grow successful businesses that positively impact the lives of people. And that passion for touching lives is fueled by my commitment to God. I believe I am a light and salt of the earth. I must add value wherever I am. When our activities ensure that everyone irrespective of disabling conditions can live in their potential then we have done the work of God.
On inclusive education and accessibility
As for inclusive education in Nigeria, we are not there yet. For example, in Lagos State, the children with disabilities in the inclusive schools do not have adequate assistive education technology to get quality education.
The schools are not widespread enough: parents still need to travel long distances to take their children to school. Training of special needs teachers does not meet up with international standards yet, so we still have a long way to go.
Speaking on what we need to do, review the curriculum for training special needs teachers to meet up with international standards, establish more inclusive schools across all LCDA in Lagos State and procure more education technology to aid the learning of students with disabilities. The organised private sector and civil society organisations have a role to play in improving the quality of education of persons with disabilities. Through well thought out corporate social investment and knowledge based advocacy, they can augment the effort of the government in the quality of inclusive education.
One thing I would love to change in Nigeria tech sector
One thing I will want to contribute to the tech ecosystem in Nigeria is for Nigerians to imbibe the culture of mainstreaming accessibility in their product design. Currently in Nigeria a lot of digital content creators, web and App developers, product designers and managers do not understand the need to add accessibility features in their designs. This is where our organisation has its niche. focused on providing web content accessibility remediation and design services, accessibility audits and provision of disability equipment.
My thought on beauty
My definition of beauty is in simplicity and class. My sense of fashion is to wear the most comfortable wear suitable for a task. I believe that every woman is beautiful if she is appropriately adorned and in good spirit.
My fashion style
Simplicity is my fashion code. I am most comfortable in a pair of jeans, tee shirt and high canvas.
Fashion accessory I can’t do without
The fashion accessory I cannot do without is a necklace and a bracelet.
What next?
Accesstech is establishing Accesstech Academy, a big ultra-modern inclusive technology school. Our reach is already spread across Nigeria, Kenya, Uganda, Zimbabwe and Rwanda.
