Lonely world of rejected citizens with learning challenges thenationonlineng.net - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from thenationonlineng.net Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Struck by fate, neglected by governments: Travails of visually-impaired pupils in Nigerian public schools
Alexander Okere
Uduak Esin strode towards an old couch in the sitting room and sank into it quietly. She reached out for her phone on a wooden stool and slowly checked whether she had missed calls or had unread messages from relatives and friends. Despite her visual impairment, one could tell that she knew her way around the apartment, with her calculative movements, and loved the freedom she had to do certain things by herself.
“I don’t depend on my mother to do things for me. I wash my clothes myself. I cook myself and do other things myself,” she said with an aura of clairvoyance as though she sensed that our correspondent might attempt to guide her subsequently.
Solomon Elusoji
Adeyinka Adegbenro wasn’t born deaf. She was 20, a fresh university graduate when she developed a swelling along the right side of her face. The swelling subsided but, one morning, she woke up and the world was silent.
Since she had already acquired language proficiency, it wasn’t too difficult for her to start lip-reading when people speak. But it’s difficult being a deaf person in Nigeria, as she was soon about to find out.
For a start, Adeyinka lives in Lagos, a city with one of the most chaotic transport systems in the world. “Leaving the house and going out is usually very stressful, especially when I am visiting a place for the first time,” she wrote in a 2018 blog post. At the bus-stop, she can’t hear what the bus conductors are saying. And when there is a rush for buses, as is common in Lagos, especially during peak traffic hours, she is almost always the last to leave the bus-stop.
Adeyinka Adegbenro wasn’t born deaf. She was 20, a fresh university graduate when she developed a swelling along the right side of her face. The swelling subsided but, one morning, she woke up and the world was silent.
Since she had already acquired language proficiency, it wasn’t too difficult for her to start lip-reading when people speak. But it’s difficult being a deaf person in Nigeria, as she was soon about to find out.
For a start, Adeyinka lives in Lagos, a city with one of the most chaotic transport systems in the world. “Leaving the house and going out is usually very stressful, especially when I am visiting a place for the first time,” she wrote in a 2018 blog post. At the bus-stop, she can’t hear what the bus conductors are saying. And when there is a rush for buses, as is common in Lagos, especially during peak traffic hours, she is almost always the last to leave the bus-stop.
Lagos to build data bank for physically challenged - The Nation Newspaper thenationonlineng.net - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from thenationonlineng.net Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.