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Tag: deaf

  • Deaf, dumb, but not blind

    Deaf, dumb, but not blind

    Chieftains of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) and the Super Eagles Head Coach Jose Peseiro love to be misrepresented by behaving like people who are deaf and dumb when it comes to sensitive issues surrounding the game such as striving to save cost on their operations. But since they derive joy in abusing our sensitivities by inviting as many as 27 foreign-based to prosecute international friendly games, it is clear that there isn’t anything wrong with their sights.

    Interestingly, the inclusion of Enyimba FC of Aba’s goalkeeper Olorunleke Ojo is either a smokescreen or that one of the big guns or is it one of the coaches is positioning him for the transfer market in January as a Nigerian international. There are a few Rivers United FC of Port Harcourt who can play for the Super Eagles against Mozambique based on their experiences playing continental football in the last three seasons. Why none of them is worthy of an invitation tells the better with the absence of the team’s Head Coach Peseiro.

    As the Super Eagles get set to face Saudi Arabia for the second time ever and Mozambique for the fifth time, Head Coach, Jose Santos Peseiro has recalled some players who have been sidelined in recent matches. This is a clear case of fixation on Peseiro’s part, leaving the domestic game worse off. No wonder the Eagles totter against countries with better exposed and talented players than ours.

    The first backlash arising from Peseiro’s disrespect towards the domestic league is that Nigeria’s squad to the CHAN Cup would be whipped if they do qualify. For now, Nigeria’s CHAN side is in limbo with the NFF members in awe of Peseiro. Pity!

    The Super Eagles take on the Green Falcons of Saudi Arabia in the city of Portimão, Portugal on Friday,  October 13, starting at 5pm. It is the second time that both teams will meet. Both teams have played a friendly match at Alpenstadion,

    Austria on 25 May 2010 as part of the Super Eagles’ build-up to the World Cup in South Africa. It ended goalless.

    After the match with Saudi Arabia, the Super Eagles will take on Mozambique apparently as a test match to prepare for the country’s World Cup qualifiers against the two South African nations of Lesotho  and Zimbabwe next month. If Nigeria cannot beat Saudi Arabia and Mozambique with an admixture of foreign-based and home-based players, we shouldn’t say that Nigeria is a football nation.

    Sadly, NFF and Peseiro have chosen to damn the consequences of their wastefulness of scarce resources  hiding under one finger – that they need the country’s foreign legion to play against Saudi Arabia as a means of blending the squad for the Africa Cup of Nations slated to hold in Cote d’Ivoire from the second week of January next year.

    It is easy and could be true for the NFF and Peseiro to say that the organisers of the friendly games insisted on Nigeria playing her big boys. True, but did the organisers also give Nigeria  the list of invited players including those not playing regularly for their European clubs? That certainly can’t happen. Nigerians can’t be fooled by the retinue of unsung Europe-based players, given the fact the world is a global village in which all that anyone can do to watch games to monitor our players’ exploits in Europe, America and the Diaspora are on the internet under different platforms.

    What the list of players picked for the Saudi Arabia and Mozambique friendly matches represents is that we may as well stop our domestic leagues since there isn’t anything left for the home-based players to play for. It is also means that for them to play for Nigeria if ever, they must submit themselves to the greed of shylock agents and European scouts or align with the mafia groups that decide who gets invited to play for Super Eagles. Pity. And NFF members are watching in awe.

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    Why is Nigeria paying Peseiro as much as $45,000 monthly, if he can’t reside in the country for six months with the ultimate objective to scout for fresh legs into the Super Eagles? Shouldn’t Peseiro have asked his deputies to pick five home-based players who they think can fit into his football philosophies if he feels so big to handle the exercise? If Peseiro trusted his Nigerian assistants’ tactical savvy, he would have known if the local coaches understands the messages he passes to his boys in training or not. But does Peseiro care less about our local coaches who our NFF chieftains deride with laughable rotation of personnel per game?

    Peseiro knows those coaches he wants to assist him and has chosen to employ them and pay them from his monthly salaries of $45,000. NFF members were myopic to have accepted this  kind of contract that would perpetually subordinate our domestic coaches to foreigners with no plan of them being bosses of the Super Eagles anytime soon. What a country!

    Isn’t this one of the reasons we can’t point at any Nigerian as the country’s best tactician? We pay lip service to training and retraining of our coaches hence CAF could insult our sensibilities by stating that any Nigerian league coaches without CAF’s C licence shouldn’t sit on the bench during matches. Can the NFF tell the world when last it organised  such a CAF C licence course for our coaches to apply and upgrade their coaching skills. Whose duty is it to organise coaching course for Nigerian tacticians?

    There are two types of coaches – those sacked and those waiting for the sack letter. Indeed, a coach is as good as his/her last game. The paradox in coaching is that when the team excel, the players take the credit with the media celebrating them to the high heavens. Wait for it, when the team loses games, the coach gets the stick with the players blaming the manager’s tactics that brought them glory in the past.

    We have seen several instances where NFF’s Technical Director Austin Eguavoen is left behind when the country has international matches. Yet potbellied members make the trips essentially for shopping. Isn’t sacrilegious for the man in charge as Technical Director is being made to rely of Peseiro’s account of the games he prosecuted before he can adopt a unique but workable playing pattern for our national teams?

    Peseiro is a visitor in a country he being paid $45,000 which indeed was higher than that. He arrives in Abuja seven days before a home game with the Super Eagles team list neatly folded inside his breast pocket unchallenged or should one say the list isn’t interrogated. He walks through immigration with a motley crowd of Portuguese who he claims is his technical assistants. Wonderful. Still stunned? Don’t because if the game is home fixtures, Peseiro and his ‘mechanics’ are ushered into the hotel by their Nigerian counterparts who struggle to outrun the other with most of them heading towards Peseiro to pick up his luggage and head for his hotel room. The Portuguese also enjoys the luxury of meeting his players in the countries where they have matches mostly for international friendly games against European nations.

    The NFF needs to have a functional Technical Department where matches involving Nigerians in  European clubs are recorded, discussed and tabulated to guide them when discussing the list of players to be picked for assignments. It amounts to a failure of leadership for NFF to release a list of players where three to four of them are injured. It is even more disturbing when players haven’t kicked the ball for the European teams for over ten to 12 weeks, yet they are listed for the country’s matches. It smacks of high-level fraud when those kinds of players arrive in the country only to pull out of the game after one training session.

  • Land acquisition: Deaf, dumb protest in Ibadan

    Scores of deaf and dumb persons yesterday staged a peaceful protest against what they called “illegal acquisition of 20 acres from 39 acres of their land by the Oyo State government”.

    The protest was led by the National Chairman of the Board of Trustees (BoT) of Christian Mission for the Deaf, Mr. Silas Ike.

    The chairman said the mission bought 39 acres of land on the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway in 2004 with a plan to build the first special university for the deaf and dumb in the country and Africa on it.

    The protesters stormed the Agodi government secretariat carrying placards with various inscriptions, such as: “We need more than 39 acres for the proposed university”; “We want our land for proposed university”; “Please, do not oppress the deaf”; “Do not resettle people on our land” and “We bought our land with donations from people.”

    Others read: “The deaf have rights to live better life”; “We need our land for school”; “Oyo State government should not forcefully occupy the deaf’s land”; “We need our land for vocational training and deaf university” and “The deaf are helpless, please.”

    But Oyo State Commissioner for Land and Housing, Mr. Isaac Omodewu, who addressed the protesters, assured them that he would meet the governor, who he said was out of the state, on the matter.

    He assured the protesters of facilitating a meeting with their representative in the next one week.

    Addressing reporters after the protest, Ike described the action of the commissioner as “good enough for us, at least somebody is listening to us”.

  • Amazing: How visually impaired graduate invented bells that ‘saved’ deaf colleagues

    Amazing: How visually impaired graduate invented bells that ‘saved’ deaf colleagues

    Physically challenged persons are often seen as liabilities  in the society.  This is because they always need the assistance of able bodied people to achieve a number of their daily activities. This obviously explains why  many of the physically challenged in the society are abandoned and left to languish in their conditions.

    The case is not different for Amanyi Obeya Ignatius, a visually impaired graduate of  University of Jos. Though, he wasn’t not born blind, Amayi lost his sight after completing his primary school education and from then, life was never the same again. Shortly after he lost his sight, life further dealt a cruel  blow on him when the cold hands of death snatched his father away and left him with only the poor mother as his source of  consolation.

    Faced with daunting challenges early in life, one would have expected Amayi to give up hope and become a liability to the mother and the society like many physically challenged. Instead, the challenges rather became a catalyst that spurred him to strive to excel in life.

    Instead of quitting his education after he lost his sight, Amayi proceeded to secondary school and from there, he moved  to the University of Jos where his  ingenuity opened a new vista for him.

    His sojourn at the University of Jos brought him in contact with other physically challenged, especially people with hearing impairment. The encounter triggered his desire to develop a tool to aid his deaf colleagues after he experienced the harassment they were going through in the hands of people. Amanyi invented a deaf door bell otherwise known as an “OB Bell”, to help the deaf detect when there was a knock on the door.

    Explaining how it happened, he said: “The rooms for the blind and the deaf in the hostel face each other. When visitors knock on the door of a deaf person, they have to do that very hard for the deaf person inside to know that someone is knocking because the vibration must get to a certain level before the deaf person would  feel with his body that someone is knocking.

    “As an intervention, I designed what I call the OB Bell for the blind. The bell is an improvement on the regular door bell but I have introduced light into it. So, when the bell switch is pressed outside the door, it rings and also brings on the light for the deaf person inside to see. Once the light comes up, the deaf person can then open the door. Since the body of the deaf person can also be sensitive, I  designed the bell to generate enough vibration to wake the deaf person while asleep and cannot  see the light.”

    Narrating his life experience, Amanyi said:  “I became blind after I had fever. It was discovered that I had a small boil on my forehead but unfortunately, by the time the boil got dissolved, I discovered that I could not see clearly again. I could only see shadows of images but cannot identify them. The doctors eventually reasoned that my blindness may be linked to the history of glaucoma in my mother’s family because my mum and her elder sister both have sight problems.

    “Before the incident, I was writing a common entrance examination to go to St. Francis Secondary School from where I hoped to enroll in the Nigerian Defence Academy, Kaduna. I was then in St. Mary Primary School and my teachers could only pity me because  there was nothing they could do. It was very difficult for me to accept the fact that I cannot see again. I continuously refused the offer to study with the visually challenged in the school I was taken to and that really delayed my education.”

    His desire for education was later awoken by to his old schoolmates who refused to leave him to  wallow in self-pity. Amanyi’s words:  “They would retire to my house and give me feedback about what they had learnt in school. Gradually, I became challenged and my interest in education was revived.  Sadly, I had to now do this with other visually challenged students.”

    Amanyi  thereafter  went to rehabilitation classes where at some point, he also studied with some other children without any physical challenge. He grew in his study and was admitted to the University of Jos where he bagged a degree in Special Education for the visually handicapped but not without some challenges.

    “It was not easy studying at the University of Jos. I had only my elder brother who also has his own family to help me but I became very fortunate when I had about the MTN Foundation scholarship for the blind. My friends told me about it and I went ahead to enter for competition. After the screening, I was very glad when I was contacted to have been successful but the scholarship meant I must maintain a 2.5 CPGA every semester to continuously to be eligible till I passed out,” Amanyi said.

    With gratitude, Amanyi is thankful to MTN Foundation for the scholarship provided for him to pursue his career and achieve his dreams.  “I could describe my scholarship as God-sent. The foundation has treated me like a child by providing me with money and materials. Through the scholarship, I was able to buy my computer and also networked with organisations like Anglo-Nigerian Welfare Association for the Blind (ANWAB) which assisted me with the installation of the JAWS software for the blind which I used with my computer. I have also been equipped with some entrepreneurial skills; so I render a few other services with which I support myself on another front,” he revealed.

    Although, he is not desirous of personal acknowledgement, Amanyi is appealing for investments from private individuals and the public into his OB Bell project as he believes the improvement of the functionality of the equipment as well as production in mass quantity will cater for the deaf in the society.

    He said: “I am not really looking for fame but just to fulfill my dreams of helping others who are physically challenged. Having been able to come up with this device, I will be glad if the deaf in our society are made happy, at least if they cannot speak, they can see and feel. The device is not perfect yet, but I am looking forward to technical partnerships that will help improve the device.

    “I want to become a ‘professor of Blindism’. I read materials on it online and discovered it is an aspect that is still less-researched. Blindism deals with behavioural characteristics of people with visual impairment that is not commonly attended to but is affecting the blind. All I want is a world of equal opportunities where despite any form of challenge one may have, he can still stand a very good chance so long as the society is willing to provide the needed support,” he concluded

  • We have a government that is deaf, says ASUU

    The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has again called on Nigerians to appeal to the Federal Government to save public universities from imminent collapse.

    Following a briefing by the union four weeks ago, ASUU said another call became necessary against the seeming recalcitrant posture of the authorities, and the need to absolve the union of any blame if it is left with no choice than embark on strike which it believes is “the only language government understands.”

    “Let it be known that our union has, in the past and if it becomes inevitable, will once again sacrifice the comfort of its members and take up the priority duty of rescuing our education system.

    “In order to forestall this avoidable crisis, we appeal to all genuinely progressive individuals and groups to prevail on Nigerian government to arrest a brewing and potentially combustible situation in the Nigerian university system,” said chairman of ASUU Lagos Zone, Prof Olusiji Sowande at the University of Lagos venue of the briefing.

    Sowande said the union has made repeated but unsuccessful efforts to compel government to fully implement the 2009 ASUU-FG Agreement, part of which include: the release of Nigerian Universities Pension Management Company (NUPEMCO) licence; NEEDS Assessment Fund; Funding of state universities; and Earned Academic Allowances, and di-harmonisation of staff schools, among others.

    According to Sowande, the scenario is becoming more sickening especially as some state universities have embarked on brazen irregular or non-payment of members’ salaries.

    The zone had representatives from Olabisi Onabanjo University (OOU); UNILAG; Federal University of Agriculture; Tai Solarin University of Education; and Lagos State University.

  • Silent stories of a deaf actor

    Silent stories of a deaf actor

    Ever witnessed a play by a group of deaf actors? This was the spectacle recently at a live drama performance in Lagos by Magic Finger Entertainment, a group of deaf actors and actresses doing the hitherto unthinkable. Just how do they manage to achieve this feat? Yetunde Oladeinde caught up with the team leader and originator, Richard Ezekiel, an energetic, never-say-die  actor who sees no barriers. Through an interpreter Ezekiel spoke of his silent world, challenges, memorable moments and early life.

    For me, every day is interesting. The first thing I do when I wake up is to replenish, go for a walk and then go straight to my laptop to check and reply emails. There I confirm appointments, which include rehearsal appointments; I also chat, do indoor planning and research. At other times, I just read stuff and engage in occasional creative writing.

    One basic challenge I have with the computer however is the abbreviations and special codes.

    On the road, it is a different thing entirely because I have had to master how conductors pronounce different destinations especially in Lagos. Most times our conductors call bus-stops as if they have hot moimoi (bean cake) in their mouths. This also poses a challenge when one wants to flag down an okada (bike), or board a vehicle during rush hours; and when I am on board, what I do is type out where I am going on my phone to a passenger. Sometimes, you get understanding people to help, but most times it is vice versa. But in spite of everything, life has been fun and very challenging. But then Challenge is a bus-stop in Ibadan, where I was born and bred.

    My advent into acting

    My flair for acting is purely in-born. As a kid, my dad didn’t provide television at home even though he could afford it. So my brother and I used to sneak into our neighbour’s living room to watch TV, and always got serious lashing if we got caught. Luckily the primary school I attended, God’s Grace Nursery and Primary School and my secondary school, Monatan High School both in Ibadan gave me opportunities to act during end of the year parties. I later joined the school literary and debating society.

    My mum also sings cultural songs a lot and that encouraged us to be active in church drama and choir. When I lost my hearing and switched to Methodist Grammar School Deaf Unit later in 2001, I was in social science and my subjects were limited. So I had to focus on learning sign language and adapting to the deaf culture. It was not easy at first; it took me a decade to finally accept that this is who I am and there are certain things in life that we can’t change. But if you are determined, then you can manage the situation properly.

    After secondary school, I always visited my friends who were then freshers at the University of Ibadan. They lived in Kuti Hall, which was so close to the Theatre Arts Department; so, often, when they went to class and I couldn’t follow them, the department of Theatre Arts was where I was attracted to. There I read several write ups on the notice board and also used the opportunity to scout for auditions that I could attend.

    Initially, it was tough but in the long run, I auditioned for a stage production and it was successful. Luckily an interpreter friend of mine Friday Azanor, was also casted in the production, which comprised mostly students of the department. I was in rehearsal and when it was my turn to block, Friday will interpret for me and I was given a role as a best friend of the lead character and as a deaf.

    During one of the rehearsals, Dr. Remi Ademola Adedokun was there to criticise the work as they normally did; thereafter he asked about my background and invited me to his office.

    For weeks, I was scared and thought I had broken some school rules and was afraid I’d be humiliated. I became sick with fear that I was going to be cut off from something that made me happy and left for home. But Friday kept telling me they were asking after me, so I went back and met Dr. Adedokun whom I came to understand was the HOD. He asked me ‘Why don’t you apply for Diploma through UI DLC?’

    Like a hormone-driven adolescent, I rushed to get the form and enrolled for the 2006/2007 session as the only deaf student in the Theatre Arts Department, University of Ibadan and without an interpreter. I still hold that record till today. However, this was one of the most challenging years of my life, as I had to lip-read and take notes. All my classmates and lecturers were aware of my deafness, but that didn’t earn me any preferential treatment or sympathy.

    My lecturer and mentor, Dr. Tunde Awosanmi, who also casted me in most of his productions always asked me why I was in the department when I knew I couldn’t cope. Whenever I told him I couldn’t do something, he would challenge me to get it done or carry-over the course. And since all eyes were on me both by the deaf students who believed I would be booted out of the department in time and my colleagues, who always wondered how I coped, I always ended up doing things even I didn’t believe I could do and got applauded. Now, anytime I look back at the situation and how everyone in the department took me like a brother and encouraged me to challenge myself, I’m just full of gratitude.

    I am also the only deaf person in the drama department of TREM (Vision House) in Utako, Abuja, where I also acted and have an amazing group.

    I have acted in so many stage plays that I have even lost count. I even played the lead role in Shakespeare’s play more than once and got a standing ovation. Since then, there has been no going back and I just keep pushing and doing what’s expected of me; and the more I do the thing I love, the more I realised I can do better, and the more I unleash my potentials. In trying to surpass my own expectation, success for me becomes a habit and old habits die hard.

    Tell us about Magic Finger Entertainment?

    Magic Finger Entertainment Productions was approved in July 2014 as a registered company and endorsed by the Federal Ministry of Tourism, Culture and National Orientation same year. And since then there has been no going back. Entrepreneurs with no special needs will tell you things are not easy, you can then imagine what entrepreneur with Special needs like me would be going through.

    I choose the name Magic Finger because of how deaf people move our hands when communicating. Our Sign Language is a beautiful art and very fascinating. Hearing people who understand sign language will attest to this. I also think the name fits because it is a deaf-owned business and our focus is also to put the deaf individual in a better light where entertainment is concerned by encouraging and working with those interested in showcasing their special talents to the world.

    Rough road to fruition

    I always wanted to own my business and be financially independent, because I don’t believe everyone must wake up, wear suit and tie and go to a job expecting salary. My dad owned a catering business, he included our names to fill key positions even when all we did was just to count money, clear the table and wash plates. Then during my years at the University of Ibadan, I decided to add Theatre Management in my final year as a major, I was also opportune to go with student troupes who were already managing their own entertainment company successfully. Along the line I got little theatre contracts here and there, but my clients always asked if I was registered with the CAC (Corporate Affairs Commission). I told my dad about it, but the process he reeled out put me off. After school, I went to Abuja for the first time in 2010 and joined Silent Afro-Mime Troupe owned by another deaf man. There I learnt on the job for a few months and then returned to Ibadan with intention to further my education. Unfortunately, that didn’t click and I got stuck in Ibadan.

    During that interval, I was contacted by the president of Speech Pathologist and Audiologist Association of Nigeria through a friend in the Special Education Department to prepare drama interludes for their upcoming conference. There and then, I decided to start focusing on alternative communicating form of entertainment, something to put people with special needs, most especially the deaf in good light, as against all the stereotypes out there. I discovered there was almost no entertainment outfit in the country doing anything like that.

    Before Magic Finger Group, we had operated by different other names. Last year after working for a few months in a hotel in Abuja as a House Keeper, I was able to raise some money and decided it was time to get registered. I met a lawyer who guided me through the registration process. He was very amazed to meet a deaf person who wanted to do business registration.

    Deafness not a barrier?

    I would say that being deaf is not a barrier to creativity. In fact, Sign Language has proven that. If you don’t understand me, visit a deaf church and watch the choir sing in Sign Language. You will understand exactly where choreography evolved from. Magic Finger is using Sign Language to command attention through the aid of the whole body and majorly the hand to ‘magically’ express and dispense information to the anxious audience in an entertaining way.

     

    Major projects we have undertaken

    I have been directly and indirectly involved in a lot of projects, especially stage productions. I have also done lots of ‘waka pass’ roles. I recently played a role in a yet-to-be-released movie produced by Peculiar Communications. I am still working hard on my skills and learning on the job with every production. I am trying to expand my horizon in the field of entertainment to be able to one day say ‘I am a producer;’ and also to be able to thrive and bloom with my knowledge in the Arts.

    Major challenges faced

    You may be surprised if I tell you that my number one challenge is money. We wake up every day and go about our business because we want to make money to fulfill our needs and pay our bills.

    I have escaped being hit by cars and bikes without headlights at nights. I have been insulted when I went to follow-up on proposals and the secretary not knowing my mission, took me for a beggar and  offered me 10 naira. I have had people laugh and made jest of me because of my situation, but if I keep thinking about that, I would still remain in my shell. I’ve got lots of plans and things I want to do, but money is a big issue – to eat, to move, to cloth, to go to hospital, to be in a relationship and to be responsible. Money is not everything but it is part of everything.

    In a few weeks, I’d be going on internship with a deaf theatre company in Europe, Sweden to be precise, where I hope to learn and work for a month. I am presently running around for sponsorship to make that a reality for me and my interpreter. Whatever I learn will be impacted on other deaf people when I return. My admission after five years of trying to further through Distant Education is also there and that means money too.

    One other problem is that of harassment by law enforcement agencies and security operatives, who’ll deny you of entrance into important places just because you are deaf. To them, once you have a disability, then you have come to ask for financial assistance. I have missed a lot of appointments because I had to spend time in police stations and police vehicles trying to explain myself.

    Memorable moments on the job

    My first major stage performance outside Ibadan was when I was cast in Wole Soyinka’s KONGIS HARVEST as directed by Dr. Tunde Awosanmi and we went to perform at June 12 Cultural Centre, Kuto, Abeokuta. That night, the hall was jam-packed with who is who in Abeokuta since it was a command performance for Prof. Wole Soyinka’s birthday celebration. After the performance, Yemi Shodimu shook hands with all of us; as he was trying to tell me something, one of the casts quickly informed him that I am a deaf and he instantly became speechless and was just staring at me.

    A few years later, we took the same performance to Yar’Adua centre in Abuja and it was filled with beautiful memories. On our way back, it was late and we had to park our buses inside Federal College of Education at Okene. Because we couldn’t find a place to sleep, we decided to start a gyration that ultimately woke up all the students. That night was mad fun!

    There was also the production of IBOJI OKU, the Yoruba adaptation of Solomon Iguanres THE GRAVE ENCOUNTER, directed by Abraham Oladipupo. I was casted roles with very long speech that a lot of my casts started doubting if I was indeed a deaf. I wanted to give up that rehearsal because at every moment, someone would correct my pronunciation and I got really tired; but the director wouldn’t have any of that. I must say my time at University of Ibadan really taught me a lot about discipline, timing, focus and staying true to the course, as the show must go on!

    I was also fortunate to attend a dance workshop organised by Mr. Qudus Onikeeku of QDance Centre, where we had the dance maestro, Ijodee in attendance. You can imagine what I learnt in two weeks with these dance professionals. There was also an occasion in my final year at the university when my group adopted one of my short film scripts for shooting in our project work, and on set, the director had to come to me occasionally to ask for understanding of some scenes and in the end we got good grades. Life at UI contributed a lot to what I am today and where I am going. I am proud to be an alumnus of Recte Sapere Fons.

    Life as a deaf activist

    I moderate Deaf World, a WhatsApp forum and also serve a ‘gateman’ for another forum that discusses matters relating to deaf advancement in Africa. I am a Special Adviser to the Excos of Ikotun Deaf Development Association in Alimosho Local Government Area of Lagos. Currently, I am also PRO for Deaf Resources Centre, Nigeria. I was among those who pioneered NUDSA (National union of deaf Students Association in University of Ibadan, and I am an entertainment consultant and youth leader for NNAD (Nigerian National Association of the Deaf) at national level. It’s not really easy doing all these but I am always pushing myself to the limits for whatever cause I believe in.

    My other fancies

    I read a lot. I also try to be creative by writing; I have a few uncompleted works from prose to drama and screenplay that I have been working on for years. I am a composer too and I look forward to having a collabo with any singer someday by giving them my work. All I do in the music video is sing along using sign language and dance because having had the opportunity of living in the two worlds, the deaf and hearing, I don’t believe music is music until I see deaf people grooving successfully to its beats and lyrics. This can be achieved by a hard danceable beat and sign language in music videos and I look forward to experimenting with it someday. Note that I used to be a juvenile choir leader in church; I lost my hearing prior to my transfer to the main choir. I strongly believe it is normal to be different. I spend time online too looking to network with people on the international level most especially deaf entertainment practitioners. I also read a lot about business management, African History, entertainment and politics. And occasionally when I have the chance, I engage in sport. I play soccer, walk soccer and I swim as a hobby.

    My family, my pillar of support

    They have been very supportive to the best of their capabilities. Being a first child comes with its own challenges. Through thick and thin we keep walking. Family is important to me because at the end of the day, they are the ones by your side. It got to a point my parents realised that I have my own dreams and they just had to let me be. Today, they keep reminding me how very proud they are of me. Aside my blood family, I also have some wonderful people who today consider me as family.

  • Blind, deaf pupils get financial skills training

    Blind, deaf pupils get financial skills training

    Blind and hearing impaired pupils of Pacelli School for the Blind and Partially Sighted and Wesley School for the Deaf in Surulere have benefited from financial skills training courtesy of Financial Literacy for All (FLA), a non-governmental organisation (NGO).

    The NGO enhanced the savings and investment skills of the special needs pupils as part of activities to commemorate the Global Money Week. During the seminar, the pupils learnt how to save and spend wisely.

    Project Director, FLA, Laja Shoniran, who presented some financial skills’ books to the pupils, explained that the essence of the programme was to take the financial education, which has been enjoyed by normal people in the past six years to the challenged groups in the society.

    He said: “Financial education is a skill that everybody needs so we decided to reach out to the challenged group of our society because they are also engaged in what other people go through on daily basis. So for complete people to still be experiencing challenges in making some decision like financing, banking, investment among others, how much more of those that cannot see or hear?

    “As part of the society, being blind does not separate you from what is happening around you because you also need to make some decisions about money too.

    “Being blind does not separate you from what is going on in the market; you can be cheated like every other person but the more you know, the better you have chance to protect what you have worked for.”

    Underscoring the reason challenged people should be empowered, Solarin added: “There is a report that blind people are about two times prone to poverty than sighted person so they also need to be empowered with the right information on how to save and invest money because failure to equip them with information on how to manage money can make them prone to poverty,” he said.

    On their part, some of the blind pupils condemned the frequent changes in the currency which takes them time to master.They also urged the banks to prepare some forms in Braille to help them read before making decisions, and also called for embossment of ATM machine to enable them knows the number they are pressing.

    Shoniran said FLA also visited Childville School, Ogudu GRA, Lagos.

    He thanked the CommonWealth Secretariat in London, Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and Credit Awareness Nigeria for supporting the project.

    The Principal, Pacelli School for the Blind and Partially Sighted, Sister Jane Onyemeri, who received the books for the school, appreciated the gesture, adding that the seminar would help to integrate the pupils into the society.

     

  • We want to vote Deaf, blind and cripple tell INEC

    We want to vote Deaf, blind and cripple tell INEC

    Last week, Persons Living With Disabilities (PLWD) converged on the International Press Center, Lagos to talk about impediments to their rights to vote in the 2015 general elections. They also told the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to give them priority voting. SEUN AKIOYE reports.

    There was something strange about the eyes of Joseph Bulugbe whenever he talks.  No matter how passionate the matter was, the eyes betrayed no emotions. The only emotion Bulugbe betrayed was evident in his voice which seemed to have attained a high pitch of its own accord.  Whenever he talks, his eyes focused on his audience conveyed a feeling that he was seeing into your soul. And unless he told you beforehand, you will not know he was blind.

    Unlike Bulugbe, Solomon Abiodun Elugbaju’s disability was easily distinguishable. He wore a well cut suit and clean shoes, a very dark sunglass covered his eyes and his head was always raised high.

    In the room on Saturday February 7th 2015 at the International Press Centre (IPC), there were other guests and participants who share similarities with Elugbaju and Bulugbe. There were the deaf and the dumb; the cripple; the albinos; the imbecile and those suffering from speech defect.

    These unusual personalities have similar stories yet different in many ways. The disabled who are politely referred to as Persons Living With Disabilities (PLWD) sat together in like groups. The deaf and the dumb have acquired a habit of yelling at the top of their voices in incoherent syllables as if that is the only way they are sure of being heard.

    The blind were supported into the room and they sat separate from the deaf, theirs is a difficult world filled with darkness and frustration. The cripple stayed at the back and mainly concentrated with conversations within themselves while the imbecile also sat at the back. The albinos took their place separated from the rest.

    The deaf are the most active, there were loud chattering among them and they always shout when talking. It was a psychological mechanism and because they do not hear themselves they always shout thinking others can only hear them when they do. A sign interpreter stood in front of the group, he was involved in all the frantic conversations between the deaf and dumb. Many of them needed his attention at the same time and as he was attending to one, another would call his attention so he was engaged in a flurry of interpretations from one person to the other.

    The blind were helped to their seats by whoever is nearest to them when they come in, except for Bulugbe; all of them wore dark sunglasses and carried a stick.

    Helping the disabled through the electoral process

    The programme, Strengthening Citizens Engagement in Electoral Process (SCEEP) had been conceived bearing the PLWD in mind.  There are a number of issues in mind; how do we ensure fair and equitable justice for PLWD in our electoral process? How can the blind, lame, deaf dump and others enjoy the same level of electoral freedom like the other citizens especially in a volatile electoral system as in Nigeria? How can the PLWD have a voice in choosing their political leaders?

    Sami Falobi, a Programme Associate at the IPC thinks the SCEEP project would provide answers, or at least suggestions that can help tackle the issues.  The SCEEP, which was funded by ActionAid through the United Kingdom Department for International Development (DFID) is being implemented in 10 states in Nigeria and its objectives include: to support citizens, especially women and the vulnerable to participate in and influence electoral process, to promote inclusiveness in the Nigerian electoral process and to promote the emergence of a politically better informed electorate.

    According to Falobi, the electoral sensitization meeting had representatives from six local governments across the three senatorial districts in Lagos state.  He said the project is important because PLWD are a critical, but often neglected stakeholder groups during election. “We need to bring on board marginalized groups and advance their participation and active engagement in the electoral process so their votes count and they are able to hold elected officials accountable on priority development initiatives,” he said.

    In Nigeria, there are estimated 22 million PLWD who stand to be disenfranchised in the 2015 general elections if the electoral body does not put in place adequate measures to ensure the participation of this group. Falobi said this group is “often cut off from actively participating and benefiting from development policies.” To this end, the SCEEP project according to him will “build capacity and knowledge of people living with disability to have requisite voter education message and information that give them increased understanding of the electoral process.”

    The PLWD and 2015 election

    The people living with one form of disability or the other who had gathered to brainstorm on how to further strengthen their participation at the polls had bitter experiences trying to vote in the past elections. They did not mince words in telling their able bodied colleagues too.

    Their lamentations rang deep in the room sending many in the audience into the deepest melancholy.  Adewale Adeyanju, coordinator of National Handicap Careers Association of Nigeria gave a pathetic submission about the plight of the deaf in Nigeria. He said most of them do not have their Permanent Voters Cards because they could not comprehend the information being relayed by INEC.

    But the biggest problem being confronted by the deaf and dumb is lack of trained electoral officials or interpreters at the polling booths. “When we line up, there will be nobody to interpret; even electoral officers would just pack us aside. The deaf will be looking, when trouble comes, we are the last to know and when people are running, the deaf will be running, he does not know why he is running.”

    Adeyanju was not done: “Most of our votes get voided because we don’t know where to stamp, we have told INEC to train us on how to vote, all of these caused confusion.” Adeyanju spoke in a high pitch voice which breaks after every word or two which makes following him a little strenuous. But he had secured the sympathy of the audience and every word he spoke seemed to afflict their souls.

    He was concerned that there are no deaf legislators or elected public officer in Nigeria against the norm in other countries like Ghana which reserved at least six spaces for PLWD in the parliament.

    “When we say we want to contest election, the people will say, our legislator ko gboran o, on election day, people laugh and they gather to sing for you because they know you don’t understand, they refused to carry us along,” he said.

    Bulugbe spoke for the blind. He stood up carefully holding on to the edge of the table until a microphone was thrust into his hand which was a sign that he could now proceed. He bent his head slightly to the left and focused his opened eyes on the audience. “I know what I went through to get my PVC,” he began. A sigh of relief swept through the hall, but it was short-lived. “But how can I vote, who will attend to me when I get to the polling booth?”

    The import of these questions was not lost on the audience as they began to envisage the problems of the blind voter in a volatile electoral process like Nigeria’s.  There are estimated 1.1 million blind Nigerians eligible to vote. “That is a huge number and it can swing votes if we all cast for a candidate. It is key to have something done by INEC, nothing in the constitution caters for us, if I go to vote and something happens, how do I get to my house?” he asked.

    Bulugbe’s journey to perpetual darkness was slow and painful. The first sign of blindness began when he was one year old. He finally went blind in 1995 when he was in Senior Secondary School 2. But despite this personal misfortune, he went on to get a Law Degree from the University of Lagos and a Masters in Law from the University of Aberdeen, Scotland.

    Bulugbe practices as a lawyer and a right activist but that does not protect him from the usual stereotypes: “In other societies, the blind are well catered for but here they say look at them and when they see you with a female blind person they will exclaim, won ma nfe ara won (they are even marrying each other).

    Solomon Abiodun Elugbaju of Hope and Life Foundation also spoke the mind of the blind calling on INEC to ensure that the election is violence free “so that they do not increase the number of disabled people.” Elugbaju called for attitudinal change from Nigerians and total inclusion in the electoral process. He should know better as he contested for the Federal House of Representatives in Kosofe Federal Constituency in 2007 under Accord Party, he lost the election coming a distant fourth position.

    “INEC should give room for total inclusion, we should be given the right to vote and be voted for. When I contested for election, I could not vote because on the day of the election because they were shooting everywhere. We are over two million blind voters and that block vote could go a long way,” Elugbaju said. And as if possessed by some higher power, he suddenly raised his voice and shouted “Why don’t you reckon with us, when they get there, they won’t have any provisions for us.”

    The deaf and the blind are not the only ones concerned about exercising their fundamental rights, the albinos are urging for total inclusion. The Chairperson of the Albino Foundation, Lagos chapter, Josephine Omolola said the albinos are particularly vulnerable when it comes to the intrigues of election.

    “The albino is not protected from the sun, when such a person goes to the poll, they cannot easily accommodate whatever is written on the ballot papers. People are always impatient with us when we start to squint and it can be very embarrassing, that is why we don’t go out to vote,” she said.

    The way forward

    A number of those who gathered agreed that something needed to be done and fast in order to ensure that PLWD were not cut off from the electoral process. The starting point according to the PLWD is the provision of educated electoral officers who can cater for the PLWD and their special needs.

    “We should have a dedicated desk at the polling booths and trained officers who will patiently guide us through the process, we can’t say they should immediately provide binoculars for us but they can do,” Omolola said.

    The others agree that there should be a dedicated desk for PLWD at polling booths staffed with trained officers. Adeyanju went further: “I learnt in Ghana, the disabled don’t vote on the day of the general election but on the next day, which can also be adopted here.”

    Deacon Adedoyin Beyioku-Alase of the Joint Persons Living with Disability Group said communication is the major challenge of the deaf and should be taken care of. “I cannot hear you without an interpreter, without an interpreter we are useless, so the INEC should help us with an interpreter because if I am on the line and you greet me I cannot hear. Those of you enjoying the Grace of God to be living without disability should be kind to us. We need priority voting,” she concluded.

    Ronke Adeyemi from Albino Foundation believes that the able bodied are not doing enough for the PLWD. “Where are our so called big men, why can’t they help us. If we can have a commissioner for Stomach Infrastructure in Ekiti, why can’t we have a commissioner for the disabled?” she said.

    Adeyanju wants to see a change in the political landscape where PLWD will be offered political slots by political parties. “If we get six legislators in the national assembly, it is okay for us.”

    Elugbaju wants more. “I will contest again in 2019 if I am supported and if Nigerians stop violent and politics of bitterness. Many applauded this bold move, but it wasn’t clear if all agreed with him.

     

  • ‘We are deaf, not hearing-impaired’

    ‘We are deaf, not hearing-impaired’

    People with hearing difficulties are angry in Enugu State. They said they do not want to be called hearing-impaired or dumb, preferring simply to be known as deaf.

    The community in the state on the platform of Enugu Deaf Citizen Rights Movement is unhappy with what it called “careless and protracted discrimination,” by the society and state government, a situation which such apparently nice appellations have done nothing to rectify.

    Last week, they mobilised scores of their members whose number is put at around 5,000 to press home their grievances against the society and the state government.

    The protest march, though peaceful, featured placards with various inscriptions, and took Enugu residents and Government House staff unawares. After registering their presence at the Government House entrance, the protesters assembled at the Okpara Square.

    On their arrival at the Government House, they requested to see the governor and no other person for him to address what they called discrimination against deaf citizens’ rights by the Enugu State government. The governor was out of town, but they remained there till 7pm until the Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice, Mr. Anthony Ani came to plead with them to return at a later date to see the governor.

    It was an uphill task for the Government House security to control the crowd. The President of the group, Comrade Solomon Chukwu addressed the Attorney-General through an interpreter, Nwankwo Edith. He told Mr. Ani that they were at the Government House to protest their ill-treatment by the Enugu State government on the account of their disability.

    He requested Governor Sullivan Chime to put an end to what he called many years of discrimination in areas of education, employment, social life, judicial system, health, sports and other areas. Comrade Chukwu argued that a deaf person can do anything except hear, wondering why normal people can have access to tertiary education, government posts and state-organised sport tournaments, among others, while the deaf cannot.

    He also bemoaned the lack of interpreters in schools, hospitals, TV sign languages through which they can understand daily news, interpreters in the courts and other things.

    Chukwu also cited Section 42 (2) of the 1999 Constitution, which states: “no citizen of Nigeria shall be subjected to any disability or deprivation merely by reason of the circumstances of birth”.

    He called on the media, human rights associations, civil society groups to come to their rescue.

    He further disclosed that seven years ago they brought to the attention of the governor their plight as deaf citizens but up till now the answer they got is “we are working on it”.

    In area of education he said the deaf citizens must have their educational rights spelt out in the constitution. “The government should install supportive service centres and special educational [services] for the need of deaf students in all tertiary institutions in the state”. This centre, he said, should have interpreters, deaf studies anchor, special education counselors, special assessment planners and sign language teachers, among others.

    He further demanded that interpreter services be placed at the courts to help deaf citizens access justice as well as a strong policy to be made to ensure that deaf citizens get employed in Universal Basic Education, State Management Education Board, Local Government Councils, SURE-P, etc so as to ensure equality of all citizens.

    In the area of sports he said the Enugu government has not sponsored any deaf sports programmes since the PDP-led government look over the state in 1999 till date unlike other states like Imo and Abia, citing the “Anambra State Deaf Sports Festival 2013” as an example.

    He, however, thanked the governor for everything he has done in Enugu but stated in strong terms that the deaf people demand deaf representatives in the government, recognized sign language policy in the state as deaf citizens’ primary and culture methods of communication and accepted as one of the official languages, T.V. sign language interpretation in Enugu Broadcasting Service and likewise NTA, recognized employment scheme for the deaf citizens.

    Some of the placards they displayed read: “We demand for equal employment, education, scholarship, army etc.”, “Why treat deaf citizens like animals in our dear state?” “Deaf representative in Enugu State government now”.

    One of the deaf people with a Bachelor of Science degree in Education from the Enugu State University of Science and Technology (ESUT), Mr. Ezeagu Sylvester stated that deaf persons can be Doctors, Lawyers, Teachers etc, and urged the government of Enugu State to appoint deaf person to represent them in government.

    The chairman, Enugu State Association of the deaf Mr. Chibueze Eya who also spoke through an interpreter said that deaf people are brilliant and law abiding and should be provided with the needed facilities to excel in their chosen fields of endeavour.

    The chairperson, Enugu State Deaf Women Association, Doris Agudeogu, lamented the neglect which deaf citizens suffer in Enugu. She stated that they needed employment and skill acquisition centers to be able to do something in order to cater for their children.

    The Commissioner for Justice and Attorney General of Enugu State  Anthony Ani who  pacified  the deaf citizens as they insisted they would not leave until the governor comes out to address them told them that the  governor was not around but he has taken note of their demands and when the governor returns it would  be reviewed.

    Ani who is also the patron of the deaf citizens argued that some of the issues raised by the deaf citizens have already been solved and most other issues were still being solved.

    He said that the deaf citizens’ school in Coal Camp was already under renovation, even as he said that some of the deaf citizens would be undergoing assessment to see if hearing aids can be provided for them.

    He further disclosed that some of the deaf people in Enugu State were already employed in their various local council because there was a deliberate policy to employ some of them who can work and dismissed as untrue that deaf citizens were totally neglected in the state.

    He therefore advised them to go home promising that those issues which were not yet addressed would be addressed in a no distant time.

  • Deaf, dumb… not blind

    Deaf, dumb… not blind

    We are back in the trenches. This is the time for buck-passing. Sentimental decisions would soon be made. Super Eagles can do no wrong. Their coaches are infallible. Hard luck, poor officiating and injuries would soon be ascribed as some of the reasons why Nigeria didn’t go beyond the second round. Yet, before these matches, we were tasked to pray for the Eagles. Some pastors and Imams and prophets joined in the task, predicting Eagles’ games, such that the morale in the team’s camp rose, once these predictions were announced. Such was our lot at the World Cup in Brazil. Indeed, Nigeria’s quest for the World Cup was an accident waiting to happen.

    With four points from possible 12, you don’t need rocket science brain to know that such a performance was awful. No parent will spare the rod on any kid who scored 33.3 per cent in his/her examinations. The Eagles’ outing at the Mundial translates to one-third, amounting to 33.3 per cent. Elsewhere, the coaches would honourably resign and apologise to the nation. If they don’t, those in charge of the game will ask the coaches to go.

    No so for Nigeria, even when we know that the coaches picked the 23-man squad that did great disservice to the game in this polity. It is true that coaches in other climes get the freehand to pick their players. But, these coaches aren’t scared to face the media to explain why they picked those listed and why others were dropped. It is also true that most of the 32 countries at the Brazil 2014 World Cup had issues with players’ selection. But those countries’ coaches still picked their best players around the world for the Mundial.

    The Super Eagles’ squad at the World Cup lacked depth. The coaches disagreed and we turned deaf ears to the outcry for the inclusion of Nigerian players who had distinguished themselves playing for top European clubs. Cynics, like some of us were called, queried the inclusion of certain players. We were told to mind our business. We were asked to allow the coaches do their jobs. Now that their job is shoddy, those who chastised us are dumb, unable to raise their voices to tell the truth and be damned.

    Apostles of the coaches’ freehand toga have turned blind eyes to the Eagles’ shambolic outing in Brazil. They are not talking, pretending to be deaf. They have lost their voices, as if they are dumb. What a deaf, dumb but not blind football clan we have in this country.

    We have overpampered the Eagles. They hold us hostage. We pander to their demands without asking how it is done elsewhere. The Eagles have failed anytime we succumb to their demands.

    Many have described the Clemens Westerhof era as our best. It didn’t happen without the intrigues of match bonuses, code Once the Eagles coughed, the country tremble. It suited Westerhof then because he had access to those in power. But, like the dictum goes, those who ride on the back of the tiger end up inside the beast’s bowel. The Eagles turned against Westerhof in the United States, when they refused to obey his instruction that they change their hotel to a more serene place before the game against Italy, which Nigeria lost 2-1. Had the Eagles obeyed Westerhof, Nigeria would have hit the final because Bulgaria that we beat 3-0 won the fourth place game at the 1994 World Cup in US.

    Westerhof, who erroneously thought he had the ears of those in power, was startled to see the players have their way over his decision, like it always happened between the Dutch and his employers, the Nigeria Football Association (NFA). The Dutch was unceremoniously eased out of his job much to the delight of some of his players who plotted his exit.

    Westerhof’s exit provided a coaching lacuna in the Eagles. Rather than throw open the search for a competent coach to replace Westerhof, the NFA listened to Eagles’ stars who infiltrated the media to that all that Westerhof achieved was because of his assistant’s (Johannes Bonfrere’s) tactical savvy. Jo Bonfrere replaced Westerhof.

    Bonfrere did well with the Eagles, not after the players he invited for the international friendly against Togo in Lagos and refused to play. Togo beat Nigeria 3-1 with most of the invited players in the stands. The players in the stands escaped when the fans went on rampage, thanks to the police.

    In fact, Jonathan Akpoborie, who came to watch the game as a spectator, had to his suit for a jersey to play for Nigeria. That was how Akpoborie made the team despite his being our best player in Europe, specifically playing in the German Bundesliga.

    In spite of Akpoborie’s patriotic act against Togo, Bonfrere dropped him from the squad, and opted for the gang in the team. Nigeria won the gold medal at the Atlanta Olympic Games but this marked the beginning of the brazen quest for cash before playing for Nigeria. Let us not forget how Nigeria lost the chance of a World Cup appearance at the Italia’90 World Cup, when the Eagles refused to fly out to Yaoundé until their allowances were paid. That was Westerhof’s first game and we lost to Cameroon.

    The Atlanta’96 team was untouchable. They wanted to play together despite their players’ form. Bonfrere dumped the squad in the US and headed home over rifts with the then sports minister, who called his bluff when the Dutch misbehaved with a US cop. Bonfrere would have been deported but for the minister’s political intervention.

    The NFA men got Phillipe Troussier courtesy of Arsenal FC of England’s manager Arsene Wenger’s recommendation. Troussier, introduced the more dynamic 3-5-2 formation which broke the Atlanta’96 squad members. The Eagles won matches without some of these Olympic medalists. Nigeria qualified for the France’98 World Cup with a game to spare in the qualifiers. Instead of keeping Troussier, we sent him away because the players exploited their closeness to those in government.

    Enter journeyman Bora Milutinovic. Bora had rich World Cup pedigree but he couldn’t control the boys. It showed when Eagles’ players spent hours in the morning of match day against Demark insisting to be paid $15,000 each before the game. They reasoned that the beating the Danes was a stroll in the park, more so, when Nigeria’s next game would have been against Brazil.

    The world was waiting for that rematch since Nigeria edged out Brazil in the semi-finals of the Atlanta Olympic Games. The players recognised this fact and latched on to it to cause a major embarrassment to Nigerians. The Danes beat us 4-1. Many business-minded Nigerians have not recovered from the financial losses they recorded, especially the proactive ones, who were ready to reap from the match that never held- the rematch between Nigeria and Brazil in France.

    This players’ power trend in the Super Eagles continued until 2002, culminating in the team’s disbandment after the Africa Cup of Nations flop in Mali. Rock in your casket, late Isyaha Mark Aku. Aku disbanded the mafia-ridden Eagles squad. He made sure that those culpable didn’t make the squad to the Japan/Korea 2002 World Cup. Besides, the late Aku (rest in the bossom of the Lord) recruited the disciplinarian, Adegboye Onigbinde to guide the Eagles in Japan.

    Onigbinde, ensured that the 2002 Japan/Korea World Cup was devoid of players’ power or intrigues. We got one point but we left Japan/Korea with integrity and our national pride intact.

    Our players have succeeded in holding us hostage because we haven’t had a minister with the late Aku’s firmness to whip them into line. The late Aku was in Mali and didn’t flinch in taking a drastic action against the culprits. Aku wasn’t drawn into the usual NSC versus NFF supremacy tussle. He knew he was the boss and acted swiftly. That is the kind of reaction that this writer expects from the President Goodluck Jonathan-led administration on this group of Eagles.

    Happily, Senate President David Mark was in Brazil. He witnessed firsthand the players’ conduct during his peace session with them. We were told that at one point during the discussion, Mark, asked the players to hold him hostage, if that would convince them that he could guarantee the payment of their appearance fees.

    Mark resorted to this position when one of the players insisted that the $2 million be paid into their accounts before Nigeria’s opening game against Iran. The government shouldn’t tolerate a team whose players refused to train before the game against France in Brasilia, despite assurances from the government delegation that had the Senate President, three governors, several ministers and a representative of the Inspector General of Police.

    President Jonathan did the proper thing by releasing $3.85 million to save Nigeria’s blushes in the hand of an irritant group. Let us not forget how this group poured odium on us by refusing to board the aircraft that FIFA provided to take them to Brazil last year for the 2013 Confederations Cup. They stayed in Namibia until the President assured them that they would be paid.

    This Eagles in Brazil must go. Football in other countries is supervised by their soccer federations, not their Presidents. We must stop this unfettered access to our President for fickle things. Playing for Nigeria isn’t a debt. Nigeria won’t cease to be a sovereign nation, if we don’t qualify for the World Cup in the next 20 years.

    Sports, especially football, unite us as a nation. It is only during matches that we embrace ourselves, irrespective of our religion and/or state of origin. Nowhere in the world does an employee dictate to his/her employee. Nowhere in the world does anyone get rewarded for services yet to be rendered. A word is enough for the wise, as the adage goes.

  • Deaf community demands inclusion in National Confab list

    The deaf community in Nigeria under the umbrella of Voices of The Deaf Coalition has protested their exclusion from the National Conference commencing on Monday, March 17 in Abuja.

    At a press briefing in Lagos on Wednesday, the group lamented that deaf persons in the country have been marginalized since the independence in 1960.

    The Secretary General of the coalition, Adewale Adeyanju said it was unfair that they have been denied the opportunity of participating in the National Conference where all issues pertaining to the present lopsided structure of the country will be tabled and discussed.

    “Out of the six slots allocated to the Disability Community in Nigeria which include the Physically challenged, the spinal cord injury, the deaf and hard of hearing, the intellectually  challenged, the blind or visually challenged and lepers for the conference, nobody is representing the Deaf Community and four of these slots are from the Northern parts of the country.

    “When it comes to position and contribute meaning solutions to the challenges of the country that is when government sideline the deaf and see them as unimportant people, they never honour most of our programs, we don’t know their plans for us”, Adeyanju stated.

    He said if they deaf  are included in the conference they will share equal opportunities, inclusiveness and mainstream that government has been “talking  about so much but found hard to implement.”

    “They will as part of their inalienable human rights, get full information of proceedings by participation, promote sign language interpreters as lingua franca of the deaf will be assured, address issue of marginalization and abuse of the deaf and sundry issue that affects them.

    A lecturer from Federal College of Education (Special), Oyo, Dr Tola Odusanya, who is a member of the coalition, said there are two options to get the deaf community involved in the conference.

    “It is either two of the physically challenged delegates are removed for the deaf persons to take their places or the two deaf persons should be added to the list so that eight disabilities will represent the Disability Community in the country”.

    The Chairperson of the Association in Lagos State, Lukman Agbabiaka pleaded with the government to make necessary amendment in accordance with the call by the deaf community.

    “We are citizen and we have same equal rights with Nigerians in different strata. We want government to help us to ensure that the deaf Community is at the conference for the betterment of the disability Community in the country” he pleaded.

    Agbabiaka warned that unless their request is granted, members of the group will be forced to protest against the commencement of the conference on Monday.