By UzochukwuAmaka Anita Asiegbu
Hello Dear Readers, Can I ask you a question? Are you a Recruiter, a Human Resource Manager, an Employer, a CEO, a Founder, an Entrepreneur, a Business owner, an Employer of labour and so on and so forth? Is your answer Yes? Good. Congratulations to you. I sincerely acknowledge your esteemed position and achievements. Now can I ask you another question? ?
Nigeria has an estimated number of 25 million persons living with disabilities out of an estimation of 200 million citizens (children and senior citizens included). The question is this: How many persons with disabilities are employed in your establishment, company, organization or workplace?
Unusual question right? I know. I’m literally wondering why I’m questioning people about their choices of who they should and should not employ.
But what exactly is your reason for not hiring a person living with disabilities? Deep down you and know it is because of your prejudices, your innate ability to discriminate against another human you share the same air with. Your narrow-minded skills that span between stereotyping others and confining them in a box that is filled with misconceptions like; “they are unable to work and that accommodating a person with a disability in the workplace is expensive. (UN confirmed it too).
I apologize if those came out improper. Trust me I didn’t mean to offend you. I should give myself a knock on the head for my bad manners, right? Okay, I just did. Let’s move on to other things more informative.
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Facts you probably didn’t know
- Did you know that persons with disabilities have the most sought after skill by recruiters? Problem-solving skills. Yes. Don’t even doubt it. For someone who is capable of overcoming day-to-day life operations regardless of his/her disability, s/he has a remarkable problem-solving ability.
Think of those mornings you woke up and felt weary with pains all over or you felt so sick that you thought you might not be able to maneuver simple tasks like teeth brushing. You have those amazing kids now, but can you remember when you were pregnant and life very existence felt bleak. Everything appeared strenuous as well as irritating? What of the moments you realized you would be making a presentation before that intimidating delegation of directors etc, you worried you will make a fool of yourself because you are lacking in one area or the other.
Now imagine a person with disabilities waking up to that physical pain daily or another steadily fretting about making a fool of himself or herself because visual, hearing or other body organs refused to corporate. While pregnant, you had hope of returning to normalcy after 9 months but someone else has accepted the strenuous life till thy kingdom comes. Yet this person is proficient enough to conquer these difficulties and have a life. What other problem-solving skills are better than that?
- Another informational fact; Did you know that persons living with disabilities have developed an innate capability to use their available sense organs more than others? Too hard to decipher? What I mean is that a person with disabilities can make use of their sense organs more than someone without any disabilities.
Aye! Can you hear your name and without turning, determine the exact distance in which it is coming from? You will definitely look to know that. Can you look at someone’s mouth while speaking and know exactly what he or she is saying without hearing them? Have you tried putting make-up, clothes, cooking, etc, with one or no hands? With 5 hands I can’t successfully apply powder myself, I abhor cooking, clothes and I are not friendly too. So let’s give a standing ovation for those who can do all these and more.
And yet you still see them as being incapacitated? No love. They are more able than you. In areas, we cannot even imagine. Now remind me why you are omitting these problem-solving skills and talents in your workplace again? Receive sense today I pray thee!
- So asides PWDs having exceptional skills, who told you they would be expensive or difficult to deal with at work? So because you have to install a ramp or any other aid, you now assume PWDs are expensive to maintain. In that your workplace, are there no bathrooms there, did anybody traumatize you for having a need for a bathroom? Some things are called basic amenities. And you have five years to make your offices disability friendly, a law in Nigeria. Obey it.
- And how do you reckon someone with the problem-solving capacities I listed above will depend on you totally? You lend a hand, a push or anything of the sort, you now think yourself a god dishing out aids. Mba! It is called “kindness” and you receive it every day from humans too.
- And how do you even do business without coming in contact with any of the 25 million Nigerian PWDs? And when you do come in contact, how do you understand their needs when you have none working for you?
Benefits of employing Persons with Disabilities
- Employing persons with disabilities is a law in Nigeria and you as a law-abiding citizen has to obey the laws.
- Do you realize you are recruiting the best employees ever with PWDs? Strong work ethic (to prove that they can do it), intuitive, problem solvers, ability to work under pressure/difficult situations (already living a rigorous life so yeah), ability to accept criticism (constantly being at the receiving end of absurd stares/questions is the height of criticism), adaptable to any environment (they adapted to the disability), creative thinkers (they think up new ideas to make life easier daily).
- And what’s more fascinating is that among the 25 million PWDs in Nigeria, you can get all kinds of skills, degrees, talents, and capabilities. So what’s stopping you from doing what’s best for your establishment?
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