Festus Zenda, Abuja INN reporter
Nigeria National Association of the Deaf, NNAD, the apex Deaf body in the country on Wednesday June 2 organized a press conference to kick against the continuous discrimination against Deaf persons by the nation’s carriers.
The event which took held at the body’s Headquarters in Jabi District, Abuja, had in attendance selected media representatives.
The President, NNAD, Dr. Chidi Topaz Olujie expressed genuine concerns over the recent discrimination encountered at Ibom Air. While raising eyebrows at the non-inclusive news reporting style of the mainstream media, Chidi reiterated the need for full inclusion of the Deaf in matters which directly concerns them – emphasizing the age-long deaf motto: “Nothing about us without us fully involved”.
The NNAD boss henceforth called on the National Population Commission to ensure that the census exercise slated for next year is non discriminatory. According to him, the Commission must ensure adequate inclusion of the Deaf, Hard of Hearing, and Deafblind so there could be a proper and accurate database of the over nine million Deaf Nigerians.
Dr Olujie also decried the non-employment of Deaf teachers in the workforce by the Federal Teachers Scheme and the Federal Civil Service. Then there’s the non inclusion of Deaf staff at the NIMC although the Commission had made recommendations for the recruitment of such since 2019.
Dr. Olujie went on to advocate for the establishment of more special schools and recruitment of Deaf teachers in Nigeria to reduce the number of “out of school” Deaf children.
Asked to shed more light on the 2 million US Dollars donated to the office of the NCPWD for the purpose of recognizing, legislating, and Nationalizing the sign language in Nigeria, Olujie pointed out that “our concern is mainly the misleading headline and the non inclusion of the Deaf, specifically NNAD in the said meeting. Chidi remonstrated on how these issues directly concern the Deaf and how NNAD as the umbrella body was not adequately carried along.
When asked to comment on the sign language interpretation and captioning which he earlier raised but was countered by the National Television Authority, NTA, which claimed to run sign language interpreting services for the Deaf during live streaming, Olujie remarked that although some of mainstream media houses have complied with the directive, others are yet to. According to him, failure to comply is discriminatory on the grounds that a directive of such nature is not only necessary but mandatory.
Topaz also revealed NNAD’s plan to charge Ibom Air to court for human rights violation.
He said, “I have been flying for years now but have never come across such embarrassing and discriminatory policy by airline operators”.
The embattled PhD holder rhetorically quizzed why at his age, he is required by an airline policy to travel with a guide before being allowed on board. Who would pay for the guide? Am I blind to need a guide, he retorted.