Inspiring a silent audience
The speaker could not see his audience; but the audience too could not audibly hear his speech. This was the scenario at the International Conference on Disability (ICD) held last week at ‘Interest Room 3’ of the Civic Centre, Lagos as Joke Kujenya was there.
One after the other, participants trooped into the Interest Room 3 at the Civic Centre, venue of the International Conference on Disability (ICD), in Lagos. The session was to examine ‘The Role of Extracurricular Activities, e.g. Sports in Social Welfare and Development,’ by Professor Kolapo P. M. Ajuwon, President/CEO, Special Education/Rehabilitation Studies, Calgary, Missouri, USA and CEO, Horizon System Concepts Management Ltd .
As the session commenced, serenity engulfed the room. Even the gesticulation of the sign language interpreter could not make up for the dead silence.
However, as the professor went on with his speech, based on his interest and experiences in life, he interjected with questions in between to know if the participants were getting his drift. All he however got was silence, even though his ‘listeners’ nodded their acquiescence.
Professor Ajuwon began by explaining his interest in recreation activities, especially to visually impaired people, but noted that the lessons he would share would also be applicable to every human being.
He narrated the story of his days at the Paccelli School for the Blind, during which they had to learn to swim because they were told that it has tangible and intangible benefits. He said the school also had other sports including ‘tug of war’ and ‘Scaging’, ‘Rope skipping’ and others. He noted that they had very creative teachers who all taught them the benefits and the creativity.
He told them about his time at St Finbar’s College, which he said was the first school to accept blind students. “That was when a form of inclusive education began, as only two of us were blind out of over 700 students. So, apart from Physical Education (PE) activities, they would pair us with other students; we were often left out of other sporting activities. And so, we were left passive as the two of us would only sit aside without participating in any other school events.”
Thereafter, he told of how he went to CMS Grammar School for his Higher Secondary Certificate (HSC) and, how there too, he still was left passive.
“All the while, in all these places, I tried to tell whoever cared to listen that I could do all the sports. But my comments all went unheeded,” he intoned.
“It was when I went to the United States of America (USA) for my university education that I was fully integrated into sporting activities. I was made to hike. And oh, it gave me tremendous therapeutic values, which helped me in life. In the mornings, I would take a walk alone out of my dormitory early in the morning to listen to birds singing. I would listen to squirrels squirming and all sorts. And on the inside, I would feel so lively and strong and I will be so attentive in my classes because the activities I have had in the morning was like ‘medicine’ to my entire body.
“When some professors noticed my liveliness, they started asking if I had been having such sporting activities back home. I told them the truth that people with disabilities are often relegated to the back row, made to sit down, just to read a book and lay idle, no sports at all. And I also confessed that I wished things would improve.”
Subsequently, he said the Professors began exposing him to so many sporting events, in contrast to back home in Nigeria, where visually impaired people are made to sit through many activities.
Hitting his walking stick on the ground for emphasis, he asked: “How many times can we re-emphasise it that disability shouldn’t be an automatic death sentence and a life of waste?”
He recalled that Nigeria signed a Convention in 2006 on the Rights of Persons with Disability (PWD) to enable them participate fully without hindrance in sports, recreation and leisure, and not just to be left in a secluded on their own. “But because of our poor orientation in this country, our society lacks what it takes to practise inclusive leisure for PWDs.”
He encouraged his mostly hearing-impaired listeners, not to allow their inner quests be dampened. He told the story of how during his days as a lecturer at the old University of Ife (UNIFE), now Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU), he said “a man who was a PWD went to swim and he got drowned and died. Then, the Head of Faculty went about asking for donations to support the deceased’s family. But people began to say all kinds of debilitating criticisms against the man and demonizing him. Then, I waded in and began to educate them to change their orientation towards PWDs and that was how, to some extent, they began to help them have recreational activities in the school.”
He demanded that Persons with Disabilities (PWDs) must be included in any sporting event they can cope with; otherwise they would begin to drive their energy in the wrong directions, such as beer drinking and other vices.
He said extracurricular activities for PWDs should be geared towards orientating them to be more productive in leisure and profitable ventures, while expressing regrets that, even in global sports, PWDs are not well-treated when they sustain injuries and said that all these need to change.
“Our schools, private, public and special or regular must be well-structured and well-funded to serve as models for what children with disabilities need. PWDs should be included in vocations during vacations and parents should take them along to places of interests. The painful aspect is that most parents don’t have the money to take care of the disabilities in their children. Government alone cannot be expected or asked to cater for and provide solutions for these set of people.
“Parents, families, public and private schools have roles to play in having special care to meet the needs of PWDs. Corporate organisations should use their Corporate Social Responsibilities (CSR) to provide treadmill for these set of people.
“For instance, I have a ‘Stationary Bike’ in my home. This bike is fixed in one place and you can ride it and calibrate the speed as you want. You can either power it by electricity or battery, whichever, it makes you feel good like regular bike lovers. As a lover of biking, I also use ‘Tandem Bike’. Now, this one is for two people and it can go on to the major roads. A regular person that can bike sits at the front, and the PWD sits at the back. But both riders have the pedal. The fun is really that while the one at the front does the real peddling and controlling the bike, the one at the back is doing what is called ‘mock peddling’. In the process, he is only exercising his joints and having fun. These things are there but I can understand that Nigeria does not have the roads for such yet. But it still creates fun and you don’t miss out because you cannot see or hear.”
In rounding off, he asked government at all level and schools to begin to have a rethink at improving the lives of students with disabilities, to encourage them.
He lamented that during his self-funded tour of tertiary colleges in Nigeria, he found that a great institution like the University of Jos (UNIJOS) has nothing in consideration for PWDs.
He said: “Kaduna Polytechnic has a department of Special Education. Bayero University has some level of preparedness. Federal College of Education, Oyo, has the best recreational facility for their special students and University of Ibadan (UI) was the first ever to start in 1974, a department of student with disability and the students were very happy then. But now, things are a little changed. UI students back then enjoyed some special setting. But beyond that, there is need to do more at all levels of education as students on wheelchairs currently go through a lot of harrowing experiences in these schools.”
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