People go free after stealing from us because we can’t see — Visually impaired students

December, 3 was the International Day of Persons with Disabilities which has been set aside as an inclusion strategy to help society become more compassionate towards the challenges faced by persons living with disabilities in order to render assistance that will mitigate their challenges.

Plateau State commemorated the Day on the 8th of December as the State Government, the Disability Rights Commission, the Centre for Gospel Health and Development, CeGHaD and other groups came together to celebrate the people.

About 1,000 people with diverse forms of disabilities from the 17 Local Government Areas who were in highlighted their challenges and called for assistance to surmount them. They declared as apt, this year’s theme: “United in action to Rescue and achieve the sustainable development goals for, with, and by persons with disabilities”.

Beyond the yearly promises, they called for action to make life more meaningful to them.

Perhaps the action could begin at the Government Vocational Training Center for Blind, Zawan, Jos South LGA where staff and students are exposed to danger due to the dilapidation of the facility.

The facility established in 1976 ought to cater to the educational and skills acquisition needs of the students but has been abandoned for years except for the occasional assistance from public-spirited individuals and groups.

The staff and students of the institution who narrated the threats they face urged the Government to make good its promises and reposition the institution to ensure the financial independence of the blind.

Recall that the State Government had in 2017 given a contract for the construction of accessibility facilities at the Centre. Ricko Global Services Ltd was to handle the contract which budget and contract sums were put at N155m and N29m respectively but six years later, the project is yet to commence.

A probe by the Accountability Lab, Nigeria under the UNDP Nigeria, Anti-Corruption Innovation Project, ACIP revealed that the project appears as “active” on the State Open Contracting Portal. In reality however, no effort has been made to indicate that it would commence anytime soon.

The Principal of the School, Miss Ruth Tiptu said “the school was to cater for people living with disability, specifically the blind people so that they could be empowered with skills to become self-reliant. But rather than being a blessing, the dilapidation and porous environment have exposed us to danger.

“I remember there was a move some time ago to construct some structures. I was at the Disability Rights Commission at that time. That was 2016/2017. But the contractor stopped coming all of a sudden and we discovered that there was no project to be found because there were arguments about accessibility which the contractor said was not part of the agreement. Up till now, we haven’t heard anything again.

“This school is functioning but the structures are dilapidated, nothing much has been done to help the situation. We are facing a lot of threats, we are open to all forms of attacks, anything can happen to us.”

‘Our challenges’
According to her, “We don’t have watchmen, no form of protection, no fence, no gate, the host community has been on our neck that land compensation was not paid to them, so they will not allow the school to be fenced unless they are compensated.

“We don’t have staff, many people you see here are casual workers, the government should please employ staff, we have only four staff. This place is residential, we have 18 students at the moment and they are all blind. We need all the support to put this place in order so that blind people can learn here and be self-reliant.”

A staff member, Rhoda who is also blind added: “Having this place in order would have encouraged many persons with disabilities to learn skills and create employment and wealth. The porous environment is a discouragement and the lack of adequate able-bodied people to assist us is a minus.”

Our appeal
A student, Nanyak Jangfa noted that; “I have been in this school for two years, we are about to graduate but we ask for attention to be given to this school to encourage others to come. I am about to leave this place, but I will be happy if I can get employment. We were taught both academics and crafts so we can apply the knowledge. We can make liquid soap, Vaseline, beads, purses, bags, stools, foot mats, etc.

“The farm here belongs to someone in the community, if anyone does anything wrong there, they will accuse us even when we do not know anything about it. This place should be fenced for our safety, there is no gate, and no security. People come in here, steal, and go free because we can’t see. The place is open; people can come from outside and do whatever they want and go away, we are at risk”.

Mafeng James, a volunteer said, “I don’t stay here always but I know many of the students complain of theft of items, phones. Stealing is rampant here. If the place can be fenced and the structures rebuilt, those could help.”

However, the Permanent Secretary of the State Ministry of Women Affairs and Social Development, Alex Anlong in his address at the celebration said, “The Day is to advocate for the rights of people with disabilities, all stakeholders should take this day very seriously. The government has created a Commission to see to the welfare of the people living with disabilities.

“Government is concerned not just about the blind but all people living with disabilities, it is just about time and exigencies of office but I assure you, the government will look into the situation and do something about it.”