Are We Forgetting The Physically Challenged?

As i made my way back home from work on monday(17th March,2014) evening, i came across a sight that hit me and pushed up the question “are we forgetting that there’s the physically challenged among us?”. What i saw was the sight of a “physically challenged” young Nigerian, who got off a taxi alongside the ever busy Kubwa-Suleja expressway, reached out to his wheel-chair and mounted on it but became stucked as he couldn’t make an easy move in the busy road crawling with cars, okada and human beings, as well as he couldn’t take the pedestrian bridge as there was no RAMP to enable his inability. He sat down there on his wheel-chair waiting, and am guessing he was thinking of an alternative plan on how to make his next move and perhaps, crying in his heart about his situation, and also blaming the government for not remembering their existence or if they did, caring less about it.

The traffic was much and my car was still some distance away from where he was. His confused face set me into a worry mood, i couldn’t wait any longer to get to where he was as his situation was already getting to me. I stepped out of my car, pleaded with the next car directly at my back for assistance, a gentleman he was, he immediately agreed and followed me immediately after we shouted out to the other cars of our venture. We got to where he was, greeted him and ask that he accept our assistance to lift him up the bridge. Instantly, he clapped his two hands, looked up the sky and say thank God and thank you two for doing this. I almost wept as my eyes suddenly went hot. We carried him up, followed him to the other end of the bridge and set him down. By the time we got back to where we left our cars, people were clapping and cheering us, to them, we have done something nice which is true in a mere statement of fact but, to me, we just gave the young man a hope that others feel for his situation and that he’s not alone in the struggle.

I took my time to share with you this very experience so you can all understand two things: 1) what some people feel at every point of their lives and why you should thank God for being fully alright; 2) how the government policies are anti-Nigerian.

These people we refer to as “the government”, travel out of this country every now and then, they see how these things are done in most of those countries they go to, they like and love it but why don’t they apply it down here, in their very own country where they work and live? When constructing a pedestrian bridge, it is paramount that a RAMP be included in the plan for challenged individuals like the young man we helped out. This is the 21st century, no government need that to be told to them, it is a major part of a growing condition of advancement. Schools have it, hospitals have it, banks have it and most other sectors that has high rise step to climb.

No Nigerian would like calling on the government every now and then and am sure that no Nigerian would appreciate calling names to the government at every point of their natural discussion but, the truth remains that if some of these simple things are not been put into considerations, if the Nigerian people are not been regarded “human enough”, then solving the insurgency problem in the country maybe a longshot.