A young boy, a little more than a year old, started to experience a minor pain in his eyes, which later progressed to an increasingly uncomfortable itch. He was taken to the hospital, where he was tested, and eventually pronounced visually impaired. The doctor said to the mother, “There are only five things he cannot do. Every other thing, he can do”. This was in reference to the boy’s sight, or loss of it. He was just four years old when he had lost his sight completely.
Another young girl of a different background came home from school on a day just like any other, to watch cartoons. She watched as her eyesight slowly dimmed and eventually went dark, as she and her friends were seeing a cartoon programme, “Fantastic Four”. This 14-year-old teenager and her doting mother were then forced to slowly accept the travesty that had just become her reality. She had just gone blind. This was a devastating blow to the way of life of both the young girl and her mother. In the mother’s words, “…that was how everything scattered before my very eyes”.
These two individuals are just a couple of examples of persons forced into a reality that they did not deserve. These people, just like many others living with diverse disabilities, are the sole reason for the International Day of Persons with Disabilities, and all the activities that stem from this commemorative day.
The first boy whose story initiated this article is Trust Inonse, a graduate of Mass Communication from the University of Lagos (UNILAG). He is currently an MTN Scholar, and has served the country as a member of the National Youth Service Corps. Trust was later offered a permanent position at Megalectrics, the media organisation where he served during his NYSC programme. The second story’s protagonist is none other than Opeyemi Adewale Kikelomo, also a graduate of Mass Communication from UNILAG. She is also an MTN Scholar. She, like Trust, has served in the NYSC, and currently works as a Management Consultant with PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), a firm where she also served as a graduate intern post-graduation.
These two young individuals have continued life without losing their stride, almost as if their lives were not challenged by a disability that came unannounced in their adolescent years. They have continued to blaze a trail, not only as achieving members of the disabled community, but as real contenders even in a world that is largely run and occupied by the so-called “able-bodied” people. Chidinma Obiejesi, the head of human resources at Megalectrics recounted her amazement at what Trust Inonse had been able to accomplish prior to his arrival at the company. “…I know a lot of young people who are “abled”, but they’ve barely achieved what this young man has achieved,” she said.
However, it could very easily have not been so. While narrating her earlier experiences after finding out her daughter’s predicament, Mrs. Adewale emotionally recalled how she had gotten tired of life. She had even contemplated suicide due to her frustrations of not being able to take care of her disabled child. After depleted resources and a growing threat of mental illness, it was becoming increasingly impossible to imagine sending her daughter to university. However, despite discouraging her daughter from pursuing her dream of a university education, Opeyemi gained admission to the University of Lagos after passing her secondary certificate exams and JAMB. Shortly after, she became an MTN scholar, and never looked back since then.
The same happened with Trust Inonse, who had diligently remained committed to his dreams. As a young boy, he learned to read, which instilled hope in his mother. He also continued to look forward, and earned himself a reputation as a positive, bright and ambitious young man. Trust recalled how excited he was having earned the MTN scholarship upon his admission to university. He recollected how it felt like a burden off him (concerning the funds he was awarded), and how it made him feel proud to have achieved it. He also benefited from workshops organised by the MTN Foundation, and said that it was important to help his career progress.
Just like Trust and Opeyemi, there are hundreds of other disabled individuals out there who have had their stories rewritten and lives changed by the opportunities that they have been granted through these platforms. The MTN Foundation, through its Scholarship for Blind Students, Disability Support Project, Youth Entrepreneurship Development Programme, amongst others, has continued to provide platforms that help people with disabilities in accomplishing their aspirations, break the barriers and ceilings that society and their disabilities have placed above them.
In commemoration of International Day of Persons with Disabilities 2020, it is important for everyone to take the time to raise awareness and share the success stories of others who have surmounted what was perceived to be insurmountable. This way, we can continue to fill ourselves with optimism for the future through the retelling of the experiences of those who rose from the valley of despair to the encouraging and comforting realization that disability is not the end, and there is hope.
Samuel Popo, writes from Lagos
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