TQM report,

After sponsoring in large part the Centre for Youth Studies’ ten (10) week life skills training programme for the forty-three (43) special needs (blind) students in Queen’s College and King’s College, Lagos State, Access Bank Plc went further to provide Tuition Scholarship for the thirteen (13) of these students without education support to add sustainable value to their lives.

TQM report,

The Centre for Youth Studies’ 10 week Life Skills training programme for the forty-three (43) blind students in King’s College Senior and Junior and Queen’s College, Lagos State sponsored largely by Access Bank Plc, was designed as a practicum for nineteen (19) leaders in the disability clusters trained in 2019.

The Nineteen (19) leaders in the disability clusters (10 female, 9 male) including the newly appointed GM of LASODA,  Oluwadamilare Ogundairo, taught the ten (10) training topics between January 24, 2020 and August 14, 2020, with classes running simultaneously at the three (3) locations.

The training programme was interrupted in March due to the COVID 19 Pandemic Lockdown. Classes resumed online at the insistence of the students on July 24, 2020 and were run via ZOOM, WhatsApp and Telegram.

Exposing the blind students to the leaders in the disability clusters opened up many of the students to possibilities beyond what they had dreamt of and  gave them relatable role models.  

The practicum was also a learning opportunity to acquire new skills sets for the leaders in the disability clusters.

The first phase of the project ended with the presentation of certificates on October 30, 2020 to the blind students and the investiture of their officers to run the FTS (For Tomorrow’s Sake) CLUB in the schools as a co-curricular school club open to regular students.

The trained blind students have now become peer educators.

Some pictures of the event:

Douglas Anele, professor of philosophy at the University of Lagos, has asked the federal government to ensure that a certain percentage of employment slots are allocated to people with disability (PWDs).

Speaking during an albino foundation session with the Situation Room, a civil society organisation (CSO), on “Dialogue Session on Disability Inclusion in Nigeria” in Abuja on Tuesday, Anele advised that PWDs should develop their mental strength for growth.

“We know of the challenges which had in the past affected the laying of a strong foundation for their inclusiveness, so, it is time for us to take the matter seriously by ensuring they get the place in the scheme of things.”

Most institutions in Nigeria do not make provision for PWDs in their annual intramural events and weekly recreational activities. There is a need for systemic intervention from federal and state ministries of education for inclusive physical education and sport programmes at all levels of education.

Sports for persons with disabilities (PWDs) has been in existence over 100 years. The first Sport Club for the Deaf was established in 1880 in Berlin. Integration of PWDs into the sports world was demonstrated in 1960, with the establishment of policies and participation of 23 countries in the first Paralympic Games.

However, the grassroots integration of PWDs has been by convenient recruitment. This is usually done when athletes are sought for Paralympic competitions at both national and international events. In this case, states and federations often take advantage of accessible opportunities.

In academic and sport communities, there exists a good amount of knowledge that physical activity and sport serve as instruments of great motivation for most individuals, including PWDs. However, the time-bound structure of academic programmes diverts attention of university sports units away from PWDs.

As a sport practitioner, this call for article raises my consciousness of the need to admit PWDs into human kinetics and sports programmes. Generally, most institutions in Nigeria do not make provision for PWDs in their annual intramural events and weekly recreational activities.

Grassroots development has been associated with sequential educational strategies to optimize inclusive participation, physical literacy for healthy lifestyle and career pursuit opportunities in sport, and lifetime physical activity sustainability. Grassroots integration requires awareness of PWDs’ rights to physical activity and sport opportunities, making educational phases key to policy implementation.

From primary to secondary and post-secondary education, there are barely any inclusive physical education and sports programmes for PWDs, who experience isolation and often struggle to keep up with academic rigour while maintaining their physical, physiological and psychological capacities. In tertiary education institutions, PWDs are usually completely alienated from physical activity and sport programmes.

Challenges and the barriers are, therefore, multidimensional. They include a lack of or inadequate sport education for including PWDs in physical activity and university sport, lack of advocacy and collaborative efforts to involve PWDs in university recreation sport, national or international games.

Further, the university sport body in my country has limited resources to manage sport at a national and international scene, and adding inclusive programmes for PWDs might be the last straw on the camel’s back.

Nigeria has structured Paralympic events in its national programmes and a federation as well, but there is no structure for inclusive policies in institutional sports. This calls for systemic intervention from federal and state ministries of education for inclusive physical education and sport programmes at all levels of education.

This need for systemic intervention has become even more important in the landscape of the COVID-19 pandemic, as a majority of the PWDs have become even more inactive and sedentary.

There is a need to enlighten campaigns to target PWDs, parents, and other stakeholders through various media channels to encourage PWDs to join sporting programmes. Physical education teachers, coaches, student bodies, university management and supportive service units all need to collaborate to make this a reality.

Olufunmilola Leah Dominic (Ph. D.)  is the current Directors of Sports and a Professor of Exercise and Sport Science in University of Ilorin, Nigeria. She is seasoned athlete, from grassroot to elite performance, since 1974, and transitioned to a coaching career both at state and institutional sports in 1985.

[This article has been edited by the Operating Team.]

The Nigerian Association of the Blind, NAB has charged Students with Disabilities to live above their limitations.

Making the call during an Inclusion Works Career Change Dialogue series for high school and pre-varsity Students with Disabilities, themed ‘Paddling the Professional Career Path for Persons with Disabilities in the New Normal, Oluwakemi Odusanya, the Program Officer, NAB charged Persons with Disabilities not to limit themselves.

According to her, PWDs ought to accept and be proud of their disabilities.

Further pointing out that acceptance of one’s condition makes things easy, Odusanya said, “do not limit yourself, always be proud of yourself, you need to accept your disability.

“When you accept your disability, it makes it easy to take whatever stone people throw at you,” She said.

Also speaking at the dialogue, Shola Orimoloye a Human Resource practitioner who also encouraged PWDs not to limit themselves pointed out that the fact that they can always attain greater heights if they set their minds towards it.

She explained that PWDs could do the unusual and break boundaries even with their disabilities.

Encouraging PWDs to go beyond the usual by doing the unusual Orimoloye said, “that I can’t do something that is usual, doesn’t mean I can’t do anything at all, it means I can do things that are unusual, it means that I can actually o beyond the norm, it means I can break boundaries.”

Further pointing that the first limitation an individual could encounter while doing things is one’s mind, she charged the PWDs to know their passion and pursue it.

Also gracing the event was Doctor Ife Akintunde who gave a brief overview of the professional space and the chances of PWDs in the evolving world.

By ANGELA ATABO

A coalition of civil society organisations, Nigeria Civil Society Situation Room and Albino Foundation on Tuesday in Abuja called on the Federal Government to infuse disability study into school curriculum to address stigmatisation.

They made the call at a Dialogue Session on Disability Inclusion in Nigeria organised by the Nigeria Civil Society Situation Room and Albino Foundation with support from UK Foreign, Communication and Development Office.

Prof. Douglas Anele, University of Lagos in his presentation, said that there was need to include disability study in civic education where citizenship and social issues were taught.

According to Anele, the understanding of disability and inclusiveness is necessary to catch the children young and forestall subsequent behaviour of stigmatisation and insults borne out of ignorance.

He said this was necessary, so that by the time they left primary school and went further, they would have had some reasonable ideas about what disability was and how to treat people with disability.

“This will ensure that they do not engage in behaviours that tend to discriminate against fellow students simply because of their disability.

“So, it is very important that this is done so that by the time they grow into adulthood, they would have developed reasonable ways of engaging with people living with different forms of disabilities.

“Every human being is living with one form of disability or the other.

“So, we need to teach our children what disability is, that it does not make somebody less of a human being and that it is a challenge that can be overcome,” he said.

Anele urged NGOs to continue advocacy on efforts to remove social cultural impediments, barriers and misconceptions surrounding some sets of people like the out-cast and so on.

He said that there were lots of unfounded ideas about generational curses and about “the sins of the forefathers’’ being visited upon the children thereby suffering the things they knew nothing about.

“It is high time we removed them and look at issues scientifically from a human point of view because segregation and stigmatisation lead to mental and emotional disability which often time culminate in suicide.

Anele said that education remained key in addressing these issues thus the emphasis on including disability studies in school curriculum with topics that deals with disability inclusion among others.

The Founder Albino Foundation, Mr Jake Epelle, said that the foundation worked with the Nigerian Educational Research and Development Council (NERDC) responsible for curriculum development to develop curriculum that would address issues surrounding albinism.

Epelle said that there should be a special curriculum that would address some of the gaps in the education sector, like accessibility and technological devices to help visually impaired and gaps of e-learning for Persons With Disabilities (PWDS) .

He also advocated for special funding for intervention that has to do with PWDs to cater for their needs educationally.

Epelle said that the foundation signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Afe Babalola University to start albinism institute, so that medical doctors could be trained as consultants in the area of albinism.

He added that the MoU was a breakthrough development for albinism in Nigeria.

Mrs Esther Uzoma, Convener, Nigeria Civil Society Situation Room said that the dialogue session was organised in collaboration with Albino foundation based on the group’s belief in inclusivity.

Uzoma said that Situation Room was committed to opening the civic space for all and ensuring that everybody was accommodated and carried along in spheres and sectors in Nigeria.

A Nigerian nun working in Ghana urged parents of children with disabilities to see their situation as gift from God and not a curse.

Sister Olivia Umoh, a member of the Daughters of Charity, said she understands it often is difficult to care for children with disabilities, but “I want to encourage parents that they are doing a special work for God, because these children belong to God and they are gracious in the sight of God.” She spoke to Catholic News Service ahead of the observance of International Day of Disabled Persons on 3rd December.

The day proclaimed in 1992 and observed annually aims to promote the rights and well-being of people with disabilities in all spheres of society and development and to increase awareness of the situation of people with disabilities in every aspect of political, social, economic and cultural life.

Sr Olivia is the director of Safe-Child Advocacy, a church-run centre in Ghana’s Kumasi Archdiocese. She said the centre features children with disabilities and their parents or guardians each autumn, when her congregation marks its founder’s feast.

This year, during the Covid-19 pandemic, “there were over a hundred persons with disabilities in our courtyard” but the staff arranged sleeping mats, benches and plastic chairs to allow for social distancing and arrange for the needs of the guests.

The World Health Organization reports there are more than 600 million disabled people, 80 per cent of whom live in low-income countries. In most developing countries, including Ghana, most people with disabilities are impoverished and marginalised, with little or no access to public health, education and other social services that would ideally support and protect them.

In Ghana, the 10 per cent of the population with disabilities often are regarded as unproductive and incapable of contributing to society. There are no strong advocacy groups for them. Although their rights are guaranteed both by Ghana’s Constitution and by International Conventions, in reality these provisions have offered them very little actual protection against discrimination.

With these challenges, Sr Olivia reminded parents of vulnerable children that they “are your children, and as you take care of them, you are serving God in a special way.”

She said caring for children with various forms and severity of disability is a moving experience that must not discourage parents and the children themselves. She also said anyone who mocks disabled children is mocking God.

Photo: Sister Olivia Umoh, a member of the Daughters of Charity of St Vincent de Paul, speaks with parents and children with disabilities, in a Catholic-run facility courtyard next to St Peter Cathedral in Kumasi, Ghana. (CNS photo/courtesy SCP)

President Muhammadu Buhari on Tuesday In a letter dated 5th November 2020, President Buhari requested the confirmation of seven nominees as Chairman and members of the National Commission for Persons with Disabilities by the Senate.

The letter reads: “In accordance with the provision of Section 32(2) of the Discrimination Against Persons with Disabilities (Prohibition) Act, 2019, O write to present for confirmation by the Senate, the following seven (7) nominees s Chairman and members of the National Commission for Persons with Disabilities.”

The nominees listed include Hon. Dr Hussaini Suleiman Kangiwa, Chairman (North West); Oparakau Onyejelam Jaja (South East); Philomena Isioma Konwea (South-South); Omopariola Busuyi Oluwasola (South West); Amina Rahma Audu (North West); Mrs Esther Andrew Awu (North Central); and Abba Audu Ibrahim (North East).

This request was contained in separate letters read on the floor during plenary on Tuesday by the Senate President, Ahmad Lawan.

By oolasunkanmi

The new General Manager of Lagos State Office for Disability Affairs (LASODA), Mr. Oluwadamilare Jamiu Ogundairo, formally resumed office on Tuesday following his recent appointment by the Governor of Lagos State, Mr. Babajide Olusola Sanwo-Olu.

The Director of Monitoring, Evaluation and Orientation, Mr. Akintunde Oguntoye, speaking on behalf of the Management and Staff of the Agency, congratulated the new Head for his appointment, urging him to see himself as the General Manager of all the clusters and not that of the Physically Challenged groups only.

Introducing the new General Manager, LASODA Board Secretary and Director, Human Resources and Administration, Mr. Samuel Okedara, gave an assurance that the Management and Staff of LASODA will give maximum support in order to realise his objectives for the Agency.

The Director advised Mr. Ogundairo to be focused and be a leader of all, imploring him to shun divide and rule in order to enjoy a successful tenure.

Responding, the new General Manager thanked the staff for the warm reception and promised to work with the leadership of the Agency so that he can tap from their wealth of experience in carrying out his task of moving the Agency to a higher level.

He maintained that he would make use of every piece of advice, noting that his doors are wide open to all and sundry, especially those with constructive criticisms that would enhance the status of the Agency.

Mr. Ogundairo, who is a graduate of the prestigious Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU), Ile-Ife, possesses a Bachelor of Arts in English (Education) and also holds a National Diploma in Administration from the Lagos State Polytechnic.

The new General Manager is also Chairman of the National Association of People With Physical Disability, Lagos State Chapter.