THE BLIND AND JOB OPPORTUNITY

THE BLIND AND JOB OPPORTUNITY A paper presented to the 2012 convention of Redemption International for the Blind at Concorde Hotel, Owerri, Imo State. Good day ladies and gentlemen. It is again my lot to talk to you this year. I presume I did not bore you too much last time out and I shall attempt to do the same now. Last year, I talked to you about Braille, the system of reading and writing for the blind in the life of a blind person. Now you have learnt your Braille, you have all the qualifications that mean you should stop spongeing on your parents and start adding your bit to the family exchequer. Whoops! Noone will trust you enough to give you a trial run. All those application forms you learnt how to write in school, they seem like practice run for someone else’s future. It can be soul destroying. I speak from personal experience. You can type? Mrs. Stenographer, set that machine for him! You become an object of disbelief for the ten minutes the demonstration lasts! You think you are being interviewed when someone asks you, “Who put your clothes on for you this morning?” When they read back your immaculate typing, you feel the job is yours! Forget it. You have not done the examination. A vacancy has not been declared in your area of specialisation. And, as you dispiritedly walk away, your overbloated ego in your shoe soles, you hear someone say: as though being blind makes you deaf! “I mean, what can a blind person really do?” The answer is simple: work! The followup question: “as what?” I was tempted all those years ago to respond, every one seems to be chit chatting and walking about, I can at least manage that! But as I learnt working for Mr. Maury Bruce before I went to university, you need help to chit chat, walk about and do nothing. You see, whenever the boss shows up, everyone appears to be very busy! And, I had to learn in university that being an ordinary receptionist, you needed assistance, and it took years before the equipment came on the market for me, enthusiasm and all, to be a passable blind receptionist! Maury Bruce was kind: one typist can answer the phone, receive visitors and sort out mails: an eye, or better still, a couple of working ones would do the trick and save the firm an extra wage bill.And, in my innocence, typist: forget it, who would pay for the amanuensis! Not economic at all! That is where learning crafts comes into its own. Except that as Paul Caswell, past CBM boss in Nigeria once warned: someone has to buy the bases and canes, nails and varnish and market for you; which makes you cheaper than the Akwaibom lads who make your products prohibitively expensive! Not the fault of the teachers. In Europe and America, weights are weights, quality is quality and you can have it delivered by phone. Our good old marketplace, fun, happy, noisy and exuberant; the problem is you hassle, and defective merchandise is sold, caveat emptor is alive, well and kicking! Music! Music! Music. How many blind people have been compared to Stevie Wonder? Peter Jackson Et Al, when all they wanted was a simple no TV, no radio, no CD job? God has blessed us with endless patience, so we can say without loss of face: “You know Sir, the Almighty gave me other gifts”. However, in King’s College, I made a pretence of tinkering around the keyboard of a piano, so, when I begged Cliff Richards for his autograph some years later, I deceived myself into saying, “Sir, I can play the piano”. And, in a near whisper, I added truthfully, “A bit”! before the great Cliff would ask me to demonstrate to the Albert Hall crowd my incompetence! I was pleased when the great Cliff Richard said to me, I have no stylus to give you an autograph now! Good show, I had a stylus, but what would I have said if the famous music maestro could not write Braille like me inspite of his millions! Why am I talking about music? When I worked in a school for the blind, every child wanted to be a Stevie Wonder! Unfortunately, the tonic solfa was to them a waste of time, and instruments apart from the guitar and drums were noise. Back to the beginning, blind people need jobs. They need to go to school, they need qualifications, and most important, they need a guardian angel, who would give them a chance to be productive, who would pay for them to make those vital first erroneous steps without laughing or undue criticism. But you need certain basic skills: type; read and write Braille; get yourself good grades without aid of expo; and forget those beggarly attitudes; they make you feel dirty afterwards. There are other skills which can be taught in a halfway home. When the late Sani Abacha released money to all States to build halfway homes, no southeastern State built one. The money in the area was wasted on frivolities. How many of our libraries have functional units for people living with disabilities with more than the religious literature in them? Where can you get your Braillewriter repaired? Your typewriter serviced? Who will make your phones talk? Your computers talk? Or even work out the number of steps and direction to the toilets without embarrassments; begging for things you can do yourself? Most important, who will teach you how to smile when all the work you have done is illegible because your typewriter ribbon went kaput on for long? When talking to those in authority, I always appeal to them to remember Adam’s disendowed children. Written by: Anaba GCN.

CHALLENGES CONFRONTING BLIND EDUCATION IN NIGERIA

CHALLENGES CONFRONTING BLIND EDUCATION IN NIGERIA Nigerian blind child is confronted with a lot of challenges in his quest to acquire knowledge, get gainfully employed and earn a worthy living. In all stages of education in Nigeria ranging from primary to tertiary, specialist facilities and specialist teachers are rarely available. His class room is nothing to write home about – no desk for the pupil to sit on, no stylus and no writing frame, Braille is taught under extreme difficulties, no typewriter to teach the pupil on how to type without which integration of the pupil into model secondary school would be hard. For clarity purposes, Braille is a form of reading and writing for the blind. Right from primary school, a blind child is taught to read and write Braille as most books are expected to be in Braille in order for him to study. Also, at the primary level, a blind child is taught to type with the typewriter as a means of communicating with the sighted particularly his teacher during exams. So, if a blind child does not know how to read and write Braille and cannot type as well, he remains largely illiterate. Imagine a situation where a blind child is not exposed to western education, what other option is open to him? How useful would he be in life to himself and the larger society? Whereas his sighted colleague who fails to acquire western education is able to engage himself in one meaningful activity or the other, the blind child is truly limited. Since he cannot push the truck, drive or conduct a bus, dry clean clothes, run shops or business centres, or possibly participate in the normal trading and commercial activities in our open markets, his only viable option remains going to school and acquiring the much needed knowledge for gainful employment into our offices. It therefore becomes pertinent that everything possible be done to give our blind children education in order to give them a future. A blind child who is not educated will ultimately end up in the streets as beggars which is one of the very reason why Redemption International for the Blind came into existence, to help eliminate street begging by blind persons. It is understandable that anyone who falls into a pit and does not cry out wants to remain there.! Since our registration as a charity in Scotland in 2009, we have worked very hard to advance the education of the blind in Nigeria under extreme circumstances with no support from the government. Nigerians are by nature not given to charity. Those of them who have the financial resources do not believe in charity. They only give at political gatherings to further their political ambitions. They do not give where there is no clear immediate gain. Every year, we hold a charity convention in Nigeria where we distribute for free specialist facilities designed to advance the education of the blind. Such facilities like laptop and desktop computers are given out. While the laptop computers are donated to individual blind students in tertiary institutions, the desktop computers are donated to secondary schools that admit blind students so that they can be taught computer alongside with their sighted colleagues. Other facilities available for grabs during our annual charity convention include typewriters, tape recorders, talking and Braille wrist watches, guide canes, talking BP monitors, talking Bibles, Braille papers, scanners, printers, Braille writing frames, Perkins braillers, etc. In all, we seek to create such an atmosphere where the Nigerian blind child can go to school and be presented with equal opportunity to excel in his academics just like his sighted colleagues. With the right attitude, right facilities, right teachers and right environment, this is achievable. Help us! Join us in this fight!

IN SEARCH OF A CHAMPION

IN SEARCH OF A CHAMPION Permit me to start this article by appreciating all of you, peace loving citizens of Imo State. I appeal for your rapt attention as you read to digest this important article designed to address some of the most pressing needs that confront persons with disability not only in Imo State but also in Nigeria at large. Read this not just like every other article seen on the pages of news papers but rather, follow the article word by word and line by line. Perhaps you may be touched to champion our course. It is important to start by stating categorically that the time is ripe when governments world over should begin to respect the rights of persons with special needs. Under a democratic regime where rule of law and human rights are not only observed but also respected, it is very normal to have groups of persons express their dissatisfaction over certain programmes of the government of the day; it is very normal for groups of persons to air their views and grievances as touching certain actions or inactions of the government of the day and it is very normal for groups of persons to freely assemble and express their opinions without fear of intimidation or molestation. It is common in a democratic setting to listen patiently to such voices and to have some of their genuine grievances addressed accordingly. It is also important to emphatically state here that this ARTICLE is not in any way politically motivated and it WILL BE very wrong to describe it as such. When people demand for rights to which they are entitled, they are simply appealing for the kind intervention of the strong, particularly to those with the political might to change situations and circumstances. Such demands should be seen as positive developments aimed at making government more responsible and accountable to the people. Is it really possible to truly rebrand Nigeria when we have not rebranded ourselves? For a true and effective rebranding of this country, we need to start with ourselves, rebrand our consciences, our thoughts, actions and approach to questions bothering on human dimension with utmost caution. Does it require a politician to tell me of the importance of education to persons with disability? The answer is no!!! In fact, “it is he who wears the shoes that knows where it pinches”. Do I need a politician to tell me of the important and invaluable role availability of funds can play in making education more accessible to persons with disability in our secondary and tertiary institutions? In fact, the normal Nigerian politician would rather want to see that funds allocated to manage disability related issues if any, are stifled as much as possible so as to save more for his self aggrandisement. Do I need a prophet to remind me of the fact that the disabled persons deserve equal employment opportunities? For instance, when a blind man who qualifies to work is denied of such an opportunity, you are in effect telling the person to go begging. Is it not a notorious fact that a blind man cannot push truck? he cannot hawk?, and he can neither drive nor conduct a bus? You discover that the blind man is limited to office jobs only. If you then deny him of employment, what other option is left to him? Most of these disabled people go hungry every night for lack of food. Majority of them now depend on relatives and friends if they must survive the next day while some others have taken to street begging. Pathetic? Is the current situation not reversible? Persons in authority should begin to see themselves as instruments in the hands of God to rewrite wrongs naturally imposed on persons with disability. Nobody ever chooses to be blind, lame or deaf. Believe me disability is no respecter of persons. It can occur at any time and anywhere. Why then would someone want to close his ears to the cries from such people like these? Nobody knows tomorrow so as to insulate himself from mishap! Gone are the days when one’s rights can be trampled upon with little or no resistance. We are in a modern age and our leaders need to wake up to these reality. Above all, this is a democracy, government of the people, by the people and for the people. Education is our right. We also have a right to work and these rights must be respected. See articles 24 and 27 of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. The solution does not lie in deceit but in practical positive approach to the issues as raised. I wonder if you are still following. Narrowing this whole article down to my Imo experience, I make bold to write without exaggeration of the cordial relationship that existed between the disabled community in the State and the immediate past governor of Imo State, Chief Sir Ikedi Ohakim. Without exaggeration, there were a number of things the governor did for us which we can hardly forget. Actual approval for a special school for the blind had since been given by the governor, yet up till now, those whose responsibility it is to tidy up the centre for actual take-off of the school are not living up to expectation. Not too long ago, the governor granted one of us foreign scholarship in the person of Barr. Sunny O. Ezurike which enabled him complete his Master of Laws Degree (LLM) in Human Rights at the University of Aberdeen, Scotland, United Kingdom. The only headache here to my mind is what I would want to refer to as abdication of responsibilities by some of the governor’s lieutenants who were seemingly against us and that explained why our various messages expressing our grievances hardly got to the governor and it is high time this trend be corrected. Otherwise, same situation will prevail throughout this current political dispensation in the State. We are persuaded that our current governor can do a lot more for us and we know the will is there. In line with the true spirit of the new rescue mission agenda, I appeal to our governor to help stop poverty from eating too deep into us by offering our teaming members who qualify for jobs jobs. An upward review or Increase in the scholarships and bursary allowances payable to our blind wards in secondary and tertiary institutions to enable them meet up with the current realities of things would be highly appreciated. Equal employment opportunities extended to us and a special school for the blind established in Imo State since the State is the only State in the south-east without such a centre. You will agree with me that these demands are not just realistic, but achievable. These are things that concern our welfare and general well-being. We are directly affected and we will receive no attention if we don’t speak out. This is the reason for this article. It is a truism that governments worldwide are there to serve their people. We want to be given some sense of belonging; we deserve the attention of this government. To fully realise the laudable plans of His Excellency, the executive governor of Imo State, I suggest we be given a voice in the government by way of a political appointment. “Let the head that fits the crown wear it.” My heartfelt prayer is that the Almighty God before whom I stand shall protect you, granting you the much needed wisdom to stir the ship of this State aright. You could be the Lion of our time. Your victory at the polls in 2011 was guaranteed by the love of the masses towards your various charitable programmes while outside the government; God had to overturn and overturn and overturn until you emerged winner in the polls. Justify this God given victory by being fair as much as practicable to everybody. Give everyone what is due him, disabled or not. For whatever is worth doing at all is worth doing well! Thank you. Signed: Sunny Ezurike (Esq.) CEO: Redemption International for the Blind

2012 ANNUAL CHARITY CONVENTION ADDRESS

An address presented by me this day, the 19th day of October, 2012 in the occasion of our 2012 charity convention holding at Concorde Hotel, Owerri. His Excellency, Owelle Anayo Rochas Okorocha, The Executive Governor of Imo State, The SA to the Governor on Special Citizens, Hon. Kate Okoli, Honourable Commissioners here present, Honourable members of the House here present, Gentlemen of the Press, Distinguished Ladies and Gentlemen, All other protocols duly observed: May I start by welcoming you all to our 2012 charity convention. Every year, Redemption International for the Blind puts together this programme in order to touch the lives of our brothers and sisters who for no faults of their own became blind. Most of these ones you see here today are born into some of the most wretched families in our society of which I am one. Most of these families struggle to meet with their basic needs how much more helping their blind wards with education. I am therefore truly excited that you are here today to witness this life changing charity convention. I am actively seeking for partnership so that together, we can jointly uplift the living standard and status of our blind wards. We are an international charitable organization registered in Scotland with charity number SC040825 with the major objectives of advancing the education of the blind and the granting of relief to those inneed by reason of age, ill health, financial hardship and the disadvantaged; and these we have consistently done this in the past 3 years on an annual basis to transform some of these lives. Please join us to provide sound education to the teaming blind and partially sighted persons in Nigeria as we work to establish an ultra modern institute for the blind in Imo State where books used in Nigerian schools can be transcribed into Braille and the blind taught on how to use the computer. We urge you and all public spirited individuals in our society to contribute to our Charity Education Trust Fund for the Blind (CETFB) to enable us acquire laptop / desktop computers and to establish resource rooms in our tertiary institutions so that study materials and seminars can be electronically formatted for use by blind students. Your Excellency, As the champion of free education in Imo State, we use this medium to plead with His Excellency, Owelle Anayo Rochas Okorocha, our action governor to consider as a matter of urgency, the establishment of special school for the blind in the State. Imo remains the only State in the whole of South-East without such a school. In like manner, we urge governments all over the nation to invest more in the education of the blind. The United Nations millennium goal on Education for All shall remain a farce unless an all inclusive wholistic approach to education is adopted by the authorities without discrimination as to race, sex, language, religion, disability, etc. Distinguished Ladies and Gentlemen, If there is anybody in this country that must be assisted, if there is indeed anybody in this nation who truly deserves help and support, it is these ones here gathered today. The Lord will ask you on that day to give account of these people. There are many more who need more facilities than we can afford to give; and there are indeed many more who need more funds than we can afford. Please extend your hands of fellowship to these ones and the good Lord will reward you back in no small measure. You may wish to support us financially on monthly or on an annual basis. Together, we can help create impacts that generations unborn would live to remember. Our needs are many ranging from land to equipment most of which are highly capital intensive. Please help put a smile on the face of one blind child today!!! God bless you all in Jesus’ name. Amen. Written by: Sunny Ezurike Esq. Redemption International for the Blind Email: sunny.ezurike@riftb.org Website: www.riftb.org Tel: 08136740193

2011 ANNUAL CHARITY CONVENTION ADDRESS

An address presented by me this day, the 22ND day of July 2011 at the occasion of our 2ND convention / fundraising ceremony to enable us establish a Braille resource, skills acquisition and computer training institute for the blind as well as the establishment of an ultra modern medical facility for research, management and treatment of eye related diseases. His Excellency, Owele Roachas Okorocha, the Executive Governor of Imo State, Honourable members of the house, My Commissioner(s), Our royal fathers of the day, Gentlemen of the press, Distinguished ladies and gentlemen, All other protocols duly observed: May I start by welcoming you all to this special event designed to touch the lives of a special group of people aimed at generally enhancing their academic and general well-being for a brighter and better future. I am particularly elated by your presence here, that notwithstanding your very tight schedule, you still managed to squeeze out time to be here. Thanks a million for coming. May the good Lord in His infinite mercies also find time to visit each of you in Jesus’ name. Amen. Your Excellency, Redemption International for the Blind is an international non profit-making charitable organisation that is founded with the major objectives of advancing the education of the blind and the granting of relief to those in need by reason of age, ill health, disability, financial hardship and the disadvantaged. It is in part fulfilment of these objectives that we are today gathered to give a push to our visually impaired brothers and sisters in order to help them get to the next level. We are registered in the United Kingdom as a charity with charity number SC040825. Available for distribution here today include such facilities as guide canes, talking wrist watches, Braille papers, tape recorders, CD players, typewriters and above all, desktop and laptop computers with screen readers all for free. Hopefully, we will on regular basis empower these people so as to uplift their status and general well-being in our society. Besides equipping the blind to make them move further, we intend to establish a Braille resource, skills acquisition and computer training institute for the blind in Imo State where relevant study materials used in Nigerian schools are transcribed into Braille, the blind taught on how to use the computer and those who cannot proceed further in education assisted to acquire one skill or the other that could make them self reliant and less dependent on the government and society. It is equally our intention to establish an ultra modern medical facility for research, management and control of eye related diseases. Your Excellency, To establish our dream institute fully furnished with modern gadgets and specialist facilities is expected to cost over fifty million naira. For instance, a Braille embosser which is used for Braille transcription costs over seven hundred thousand naira per unit excluding shipping cost and we will need about 4 for a start. A stand alone scanner like ScannerR costs about six hundred thousand naira and we need about 4 for a start. The truth is that most of our facilities are highly capital intensive and I do not want to bore you more than I have already done. Your Excellency, Distinguished ladies and gentlemen, It is for this reason that we have invited you here today so that you can lend us your hands of fellowship to enable Redemption International for the Blind fully take off in line with our objectives. We have no office accommodation where our service users can easily locate. We have need for a piece of land where we can build our institute. Operational vehicles are needed for the movement of men and materials. Finally, we call on the State Government to come to our rescue. We will be happy if Redemption International for the Blind can be granted charitable status in Imo State and accordingly placed on an annual subvention to help us maintain our facilities and offset some overhead costs. In like manner, we call on public spirited individuals and philanthropists to partner with us either monthly or annually. Please help put a smile on the face of one blind child today! Thanks and God bless you all for coming. Prepared by me: Sunny Ezurike (Esq.) Tel: 08136740193 Email: sunny.ezurike@riftb.org W: www.riftb.org

2009 ANNUAL CHARITY CONVENTION ADDRESS

An address presented by me, Barr. Sunny Ezurike the chief executive officer of Redemption International for the Blind, an international non profit-making charitable organisation on this occasion of her first charity convention holding here in Owerri, the Imo State capital this day, the 4TH of September, 2009. Members of the Press, Distinguished Ladies and Gentlemen, All other protocols duly observed. I have the singular honour and privilege to welcome you all to this epoch-making event. On behalf of the members of our board of directors, I humbly thank you for finding time to be physically present to witness this historic event. It is historic because this is the first of its kind in Imo State to be championed by someone who is himself visually challenged. It is my unquenchable love for charity that is behind all this; my love for humanity. I am humble enough to admit that but for charity, I would not be where I am today and I am happy to spend the rest of my life serving humanity and giving to charity. I am persuaded that this is one sure way through which I can practically demonstrate my appreciation of God’s unmerited love and mercy towards my family and I. Time will fail me if I begin to narrate my various encounters with life. Worthy of note however is that each time I appear to be at cross-routes, whenever it seems that all hope is dashed, at the very moment when my strength begins to wax cold, charity steps in, bringing with it succour and relief. In the course of my stay in Aberdeen, just about the time when I had only 1 pence left in my account, it took charity to remedy the situation; A Whiteman that I never knew from Adam to get going. Notwithstanding the seemingly herculean tasks that confronted me, it is soothing to note that Rev. Chris Wood stood by me all through. Today, I proudly hold a Master of Laws Degree in Human Rights from the University Of Aberdeen, Scotland. You may also with to know that I am currently pursuing my doctorate degree in Human Rights in the London campus of the Trinity Southwest University; all due to charity. It is encouraging to note that charity is able to remedy all situations no matter how dire. Charity can drive hunger and place food on your table, charity can cover your shame and your nakedness, charity can lead you far beyond your present imaginations, charity is selfless and it does not seek of its own. Today’s convention is a direct beneficiary and practical example of what charity can do. But for few items donated by some of our directors and friends, every other facility that will be given out today was bought using my own money. Also, that the convention itself is a reality is because I have chosen to underwrite the entire cost. I urge you to accept us as we are. Please bear all our shortcomings and accommodate all our weaknesses and failures. You can be rest assured that next year’s convention will be a lot better. We have such facilities as guide canes, colour detector, talking bibles, bibles in print, talking wrist watches, talking clocks, voice recorder, dolphin pen, signature guide and laptop with full version of JAWS For Windows among other things. Please ensure that you make good use of whatever you receive from Redemption International. Before I conclude this address, permit me to place on records the incredible support I received from my beloved wife, Mrs. Vivian Ezurike. May I also thank all the other members of the board of directors in the UK; Rev. Chris Wood, Dr. Nathan Oparaeche, Victor John Tibbit and Cyprian Okeke. My friends Festus Asemota of the Irish/Nigerian Association and Philip Isiaka for all their donations. Once again, thank you all for coming. God bless you and thank you. Written by: Sunny Ezurike.

BLIND EDUCATION IN NIGERIA

BLIND EDUCATION IN NIGERIA Education they say is “the bedrock of every nation”. This implies that it is the solid foundation upon which every nation stands without which a collapse is imminent. When you educate a child, you develop his thoughts which he in turns gives back to the society by way of innovations and service delivery. In Nigeria for instance, attention is paid more to children with no visual loss, whose education without doubt is obtained with less stress and at no extra cost. Thousands of schools exist across the nation where these sighted children can go on daily basis and be tutored by teachers using such materials like the blackboards, chalks, pencils, pens, exercise books and text books to mention but a few. In most cases, some of these materials are provided completely for free by government, with some states even going farther to provide equally for free such items as school uniforms, school sandals, school bags, and desks. Imo State government under the leadership of Owelle Rochas Okorocha is currently building 305 model primary schools in all the 305 political wards in the State with many nearing completion with no attention given to the education of the blind. A trip to some of the few existing centres where the blind can receive special education would reveal to you the sorry state in which these schools operate with little or no government attention. While some states in the nation can boast of having special education centres, Imo State cannot boast of any in sharp contrast to the ongoing project of building 305 model primary schools in all the 305 political wards in the State. To what can this be attributed? With only two years left for the realisation of the United Nations millennium goal on education for all, is it possible in the slightest imagination for Nigeria to attain this goal? There is not one special education centre for the blind that can be said to have been built by the Federal Government of Nigeria and even the existing ones do not receive any attention whatsoever from the Federal Government. It is a truism that blind education world over is highly capital intensive. In place of the pen, they use the Braille writing frame, Braille machine, and the typewriter; and in place of exercise books for note taking, they use tape recorders, batteries and empty cassettes. Transcription of text books into Braille remains a mirage. It therefore becomes imperative for our government to get more directly involved in providing the right environment for blind education to thrive in Nigeria. Government would be encouraging street begging by the blind if they neglect to send them to school. Let’s help build an all-inclusive educational system where everybody can be carried along without discrimination on grounds of race, sex, colour, religion, language, disability or social status.