Growing up as a young child, I would sit with my mum and listen to songs ranging from gospel, country, reggae, RnB and they were mostly oldies. One of such songs I fell in love with was “signed, sealed, delivered, I’m yours” by Stevie Wonder, and my young mind was shocked when my mum told me that Stevie Wonder is actually blind. I was awed by this man that despite his physical impairment, he was able to make his mark in society as a music icon. We also have the likes of the celebrated Nigerian singer and music producer, Cobhams Asuquo and many others who are making waves in their various fields, not letting their disability get in the way. Even with the wins of some, people living with disabilities still encounter numerous challenges that borders on how different they are and the stigmatization they face.

God, in His infinite wisdom thought it wise to create humans and because He has a great sense of humor, He added diversity. That is why we have people from different race, tribe, skin color, gender, body built, religious beliefs and even with special needs. Due to this diversity, we have experienced segregation and this has led to people clamoring for inclusion, but one aspect we tend to overlook has to be that of people living with special needs.

According to the World Health Organization’s data, one billion people of the world’s population have one disability or another, while in Nigeria as at the year 2020, it was reported that over 27 million Nigerians were living with some form of disability. In Nigeria, the most common forms include, sight, hearing, physical impairment, intellectual impairment and communication impairment.

Photo Credit: Freepik

Walking through the streets of major cities, towns and marketplaces, you would see physically challenged people begging for alms to alleviate their economic hardships and this is as a result of the barriers they face in terms of social and economic inclusion.

The inclusion of people living with disabilities into society transcends beyond compassion which sometimes is just a display of pity, but it moves towards social justice which is actively considering and providing easy access to them in society. The needs of physically challenged people should be the forefront of conversations as a society, and more efforts should be made by governmental and non-governmental organizations.

According to the United Nations Convention on the Rights of a Child in 1989 positioned education as a human issue, this means that all children have a right to quality education regardless of ethnicity, religious beliefs, gender, disability etc. This has not been fully achieved, as children living with disabilities have poor access to quality education and learning materials. Most schools and teachers, especially in Nigeria, cannot cater to the needs of physically challenged children and this has resulted in most low-income parents to forfeit the education of those special needs children.

Most people living with special needs tend to be completely dependent on family for financial support and care, which happens because they lack appropriate educational knowledge and skills. A parent of a child with either ADHD or autism would find it difficult to place their child in a school that would accommodate their child’s needs, because not all schools have such facilities and trained teachers and the ones that might have them would be expensive, thereby making it difficult for low-income parents to enroll their children and wards to such schools.

The Federal and State Governments should create more special needs schools and be involved in the training of special needs teachers. Concerted efforts should be made for the training and retraining of teachers, mostly in public schools to identify and accommodate children with special needs and learning difficulties that are in their classes. Also, provision of hearing aids, Braille educational materials and ease of movement should be of the essence.

After we have dealt with the issue of schools, we also have to consider churches and mosques. A few churches render the services of a sign language interpreter to attend to the needs of people with hearing impairments. People living with disabilities find it difficult to participate fully in religious activities. It should be the responsibility of churches, mosques, and other religious centers to engage the faith of their members by breaking down those barriers and promoting understanding and acceptance. Physical accessibility like ramps and restrooms should be considered when building churches and mosques. Sign language interpreters from those gatherings can volunteer their services. Braille bibles and other religious materials should be made available in Church bookshops for members to acquire.

When constructing roads and public buildings like schools, banks, hospitals, offices, restrooms and shopping malls etc., people living with disabilities should be considered, so they can access these facilities with little or no assistance. Such facilities should be equipped with ramps, elevators, automated doors, Braille buttons for elevators, sound and visual aids.

If as a society, we have been able to attend to the issues raised above, but we do not address our behavioral bias towards people living with disability, then we have not fully achieved our goal of inclusion. Awareness should be raised in how to treat people living with disabilities, the implementation of the Discrimination against People with Disabilities (Prohibition) Act 2018 in Nigeria should be forefront in our road to inclusion.

As we move towards a more inclusive society, let’s remember that everybody has a special talent, regardless of disability and let’s celebrate our diversity just as Neil Milliken, Head of Accessibility and Digital Inclusion at Atos puts it, “we should celebrate neurodiversity, the world would be poorer and life duller if we are all the same.”