Opinion
Discrimination against people living with disabilities
Written By: Charles Maduka
06 Apr 2024 10:15 PM
The discrimination against people living with disabilities did not start today. Discrimination against the disabled in our society started as far back as the bible. I am a Christian myself so I can tell you for a fact that how the people living with disabilities especially the blind and crippled were seen in the bible started this hole discrimination we are fighting in today’s world.
The gospel of mark chapter 10 verses 46 to verses 52 is a typical example of discrimination recorded in the bible. Although, many will say that it was the time of the old and so people were not knowledgeable about the abilities of the disabled. What about this present age?
In old times, as recorded in the bible. People living with disabilities were seen as cursed, useless, liabilities, infected, and unworthy to live amongst humans.
In Nigeria presently, do you know that when someone sees a person living with disability, the first thing the person assumes is that you need help. Even when people living with disabilities have in time past proven their abilities in many ways, they are still often looked down upon.
The trending case of Debola Daniel, the wheelchair user who was discriminated by KFC sometime last week, is the inspiration behind my writing. Six media organizations reached out to me to air my thoughts on the topic, but I kindly declined.
Why will it be only when it has to do with disability matters that media outlets will suddenly remember one of their acquaintances that is a person living with disability to come and speak on the topic? Who told you that people living with disabilities cannot talk on sports, politics, relationship matters, lifestyle, entertainment, ETC.
You can now see my reason for rejecting their interviews. If I had granted that interview, the next time I might be on radio, TV, or newspaper will be October 15TH for the white cane day event, or December 3RD for the world disability day program.
Even when we try to deceive ourselves that people living with disabilities have been fully accepted into the society, we all know that’s not true.
People often think that blind people cannot contribute to meaningful conversations and discussions. Some people presumes that PWDs are that useless that they can not do anything meaningful without help.
My friend told me early last month that the head of his department in one of these federal universities in Nigeria, suddenly startled him by asking, “who will get married to you guys like this� she answered herself by saying, “am sure you will marry amongst yourselves.†LOL.
Discrimination often affects the mind, it makes the victim question his or her existence, it brings down one’s self esteem. It is never a good experience for anybody, weather rich or poor. You can not be battling with the physical and mental at the same time.
One of the bitter experiences I faced as a visually impaired student in secondary school was when my basic science teacher, a level 14 officer in the civil service, told most of my friends to always ensure they stay away from blind people because blindness was contagious, that it can be transferred from one person to another.
I am sure that I can write a hole book on the discriminations I have faced as a person living with disability, in school, buses, companies, restaurants, ETC. but we are not here for that.
I recall vividly when I was just starting my carrier in disc jockeying, one of my sighted friends told me, “Charles, you are only deceiving yourself and wasting your time, you can never learn this thing, no one will even want to listen to you if they learn that you are blind.†Fast forward to today, I am not where I want to be yet, but I have had a great impact in the DJ industry.
On February 23RD 2018, the former president, president Muhammadu Buhari, signed the disability act into law, after over 9 years of relentless advocacy by disability advocates. How many companies have gone ahead to implement the 5 percent staff with disability law.
People living with disabilities are unemployed even when they have excellent CVs and results. The economy is not even conducive for a small-scale business to prosper. How do we survive in a society like ours. In government, the only position you can see persons living with disabilities occupy is either the personal assistant to the president on disability matters, or special adviser on disability matters.
My very good friend Mr. Tomi Waziri, who just relocated to Canada with his family, will always tell me, “Charles, if you come to Canada, the way they treat people with disabilities here, you will think that the president is living with disability.†“From the airport, everything is so conducive, and strict measures have been put in place for your well been.†He added.
In the interview granted by another of my very close friends, Abednego Jacobs, on channels television, he was asked what should the media do differently? I will answer this question as explanatory as possible.
The media should not invite people living with disabilities to only disability related programs. Also, more awareness should be carried out in other to educate people on how to treat the challenged in the society. The disability act of 2018 should be strictly enforced by law enforcement agencies. Finally, do not encourage people living with disabilities to be lazy and depend on begging to feed.
The next time I will pen down my thoughts on disability matters, we will talk about those companies that grants scholarships to PWDs in other to invade tax, or those that will take details of them to collect grants with out using it for the purpose of which it was granted, We will also call out those people that will take PWDs to churches to beg and play on good peoples emotions, we will lastly talk about those people that uses PWDs for fund razing events, cover crimes, and do unspeakable things with them. May be I will write a book on these.
The gospel of mark chapter 10 verses 46 to verses 52 is a typical example of discrimination recorded in the bible. Although, many will say that it was the time of the old and so people were not knowledgeable about the abilities of the disabled. What about this present age?
In old times, as recorded in the bible. People living with disabilities were seen as cursed, useless, liabilities, infected, and unworthy to live amongst humans.
In Nigeria presently, do you know that when someone sees a person living with disability, the first thing the person assumes is that you need help. Even when people living with disabilities have in time past proven their abilities in many ways, they are still often looked down upon.
The trending case of Debola Daniel, the wheelchair user who was discriminated by KFC sometime last week, is the inspiration behind my writing. Six media organizations reached out to me to air my thoughts on the topic, but I kindly declined.
Why will it be only when it has to do with disability matters that media outlets will suddenly remember one of their acquaintances that is a person living with disability to come and speak on the topic? Who told you that people living with disabilities cannot talk on sports, politics, relationship matters, lifestyle, entertainment, ETC.
You can now see my reason for rejecting their interviews. If I had granted that interview, the next time I might be on radio, TV, or newspaper will be October 15TH for the white cane day event, or December 3RD for the world disability day program.
Even when we try to deceive ourselves that people living with disabilities have been fully accepted into the society, we all know that’s not true.
People often think that blind people cannot contribute to meaningful conversations and discussions. Some people presumes that PWDs are that useless that they can not do anything meaningful without help.
My friend told me early last month that the head of his department in one of these federal universities in Nigeria, suddenly startled him by asking, “who will get married to you guys like this� she answered herself by saying, “am sure you will marry amongst yourselves.†LOL.
Discrimination often affects the mind, it makes the victim question his or her existence, it brings down one’s self esteem. It is never a good experience for anybody, weather rich or poor. You can not be battling with the physical and mental at the same time.
One of the bitter experiences I faced as a visually impaired student in secondary school was when my basic science teacher, a level 14 officer in the civil service, told most of my friends to always ensure they stay away from blind people because blindness was contagious, that it can be transferred from one person to another.
I am sure that I can write a hole book on the discriminations I have faced as a person living with disability, in school, buses, companies, restaurants, ETC. but we are not here for that.
I recall vividly when I was just starting my carrier in disc jockeying, one of my sighted friends told me, “Charles, you are only deceiving yourself and wasting your time, you can never learn this thing, no one will even want to listen to you if they learn that you are blind.†Fast forward to today, I am not where I want to be yet, but I have had a great impact in the DJ industry.
On February 23RD 2018, the former president, president Muhammadu Buhari, signed the disability act into law, after over 9 years of relentless advocacy by disability advocates. How many companies have gone ahead to implement the 5 percent staff with disability law.
People living with disabilities are unemployed even when they have excellent CVs and results. The economy is not even conducive for a small-scale business to prosper. How do we survive in a society like ours. In government, the only position you can see persons living with disabilities occupy is either the personal assistant to the president on disability matters, or special adviser on disability matters.
My very good friend Mr. Tomi Waziri, who just relocated to Canada with his family, will always tell me, “Charles, if you come to Canada, the way they treat people with disabilities here, you will think that the president is living with disability.†“From the airport, everything is so conducive, and strict measures have been put in place for your well been.†He added.
In the interview granted by another of my very close friends, Abednego Jacobs, on channels television, he was asked what should the media do differently? I will answer this question as explanatory as possible.
The media should not invite people living with disabilities to only disability related programs. Also, more awareness should be carried out in other to educate people on how to treat the challenged in the society. The disability act of 2018 should be strictly enforced by law enforcement agencies. Finally, do not encourage people living with disabilities to be lazy and depend on begging to feed.
The next time I will pen down my thoughts on disability matters, we will talk about those companies that grants scholarships to PWDs in other to invade tax, or those that will take details of them to collect grants with out using it for the purpose of which it was granted, We will also call out those people that will take PWDs to churches to beg and play on good peoples emotions, we will lastly talk about those people that uses PWDs for fund razing events, cover crimes, and do unspeakable things with them. May be I will write a book on these.
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