Deaf Community, Sign Language Interpreters lament exclusion, blame Minister of Information and Special Assistant on Disability Matters for marginalization

President Mohammadu Buhari was lambasted for delivering a speech in a televised broadcast on Monday around 7pm to Nigerians on the COVID-19 without employing the services of sign language interpreters for the Deaf.

The novel COVID-19 has ravaged most developed and developing countries including United States of America, France, United Kingdom, and the most hit Spain, Italy and some African countries.

Since COVID-19 broke out in China, the zoonotic disease has infected more than 600,000 people with over 35,000 deaths worldwide recorded so far. 131 cases and 2 death have been confirmed in Nigeria as of Monday.

This has prompted strict measures towards containing the disease and preventing community spread, most of which resulted in widespread shutdowns coupled with stay-at-home directives and imposition of curfews in some states in Nigeria.

Deaf community and sign language Interpreters speak on the exclusion

In an interview with Inclusive News on their thoughts on the exclusion of Deaf people in the televised broadcast and the way forward.

Association of Sign Language Interpreters of Nigeria (ASLIN), chairman, Tim-Tinat Gwazah in a statement sent to INN said “It shows the absence of disability-friendly personalities within the team of the President. They should have informed his media chiefs that among his citizens, there are Deaf people that will like to know what he is saying and having such a huge population of the Deaf can’t be ignored at a time like this.”

“I think one of the mistakes we make is comparing Nigeria with other developed countries. Nigeria is still developing and she is not ready to develop, or we can rightly say that her leadership is not ready to take steps to make it a developed country, hence, it affects every area.”

National Association of the Deaf chairman, Alhaji Dagbo Sulaiman in an interview with INN on Tuesday said “Government is yet to fully recognize OPD (organizations of persons with Disabilities) in its full real sense in Nigeria. And PMB should have better advised by the ministry in care of our matters and/or Special Assistant to PMB on disabled matters.”

Samuel James, a professional sign language interpreter and entertainer said in a statement issued on Tuesday that the passage of important information by President Buhari and not using a Sign Interpreter is pretty appalling and a massive slap in the face of the Deaf Disability Cluster. “The first language of the Deaf people is Sign Language, they depend solely on their eyes to perceive information, and the absence of a Sign Interpreter for information dissemination leaves them uninformed about the situation around. This is not the first time this has been happening : take for instance, the information about the COVID-19 was not readily available to the Deaf Community after the first case recorded in Nigeria February 27th until March 27th, a whole month to get information about such life threatening virus spreading round the globe.”

Douglas Izuu a Deaf undergraduate studying Library and information science at the University of Ilorin in an interview on Tuesday said “The lack of inclusion of the Deaf people in national broadcasts and all media platforms is like viewing us as people that have nothing to do with living and as not full citizens of a nation. Leaving us in an oblivious state, lacking full knowledge of what is going on in the country. This is just throwing us off balance and it is denying us our right to access to full information. The government should simply understand that not only the mouth is informative.

“If live broadcasts are not interpreted in sign language or captioned in real time, then it amounts to blatant discrimination which is in contravention of section 1 of the Disability Act which provides that a person with disability shouldn’t be discriminated against on the ground of his disability by any persons or institution in any manner or circumstance.”

Amobichukwu Nwagwu, Chairman of the Anambra State Association of the Deaf and Treasurer for JONAPWD in Anambra state in an interview with INN said “Unfortunately, I think we should not blame PMB for not providing the service of a sign language interpreter. That case should be blamed on the Special Adviser to Federal Government on Disability Matters and Ministry of information for not practising the Disability Rights Law assented to by PMB. It is their duty to employ the service of a sign language interpreter for the Deaf Community in Nigeria.
I feel it is really discrimination against the Deaf rights to information.

“It’s also a duty to the Deaf Community in Nigeria like NNAD, ASLIN and Deaf NGOs to educate the Government about Deaf rights to information. In other Countries leaders demand equality and justice for the Deaf people to have their own sign language interpreters in their program activities.”

The way forward

Tinat, a father of two, speaking on the way forward said “We need to continue advocating until it gets to the hearts of people in Authority. Deafness is not a choice and is not bought in the market. It can visit anyone at anytime including those in the presidency.”

Samuel who is also an expert in deaf Performance Arts and ASLIN Lagos chairman added that the NCDC was recently informed about the on going information marginalisation by the Nigeria National Association of the Deaf and The Association of Sign Language Interpreters and plans are under way to get the Deaf community properly informed and save lives, but it is so sad the office of the President is still unaware or chose to ignore a good part of her population, the Deaf Clusters in proper information dissemination.

“We will keep reminding them, they have to take us serious. The Deaf cluster form the largest population of all Disability Clusters and ironically, they are the most ignored.” He continued

Douglas speaking on the way forward said “The best way to address this situation is by implementation of the Discrimination Against Persons With Disabilities (Prohibition) Act, 2018.

“The most important section of the act to address this situation is section 2 (a)(b) which provided that the Federal Ministry of Information shall make provision for the promotion of awareness regarding rights, respect, and dignity of persons with disabilities; capabilities, achievements, and contributions of persons with disabilities.

“The Deaf community shouldn’t be left behind, we should take part in policy making.

Access to information is a fundamental rights of Deaf people particularly at this critical time where misinformation can be very dangerous. Because not only the mouth is informative. We are lost and helpless whenever it comes to audio or any thing that has to do with oral information. The President, Federal Minister of information, Federal Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, and National Center for Disease Control should take up this mandate and do more to create awareness about this pandemic in a Deaf-friendly approach.”

“We want them to employ the service of a Nigerian Sign Language Interpreter. This will go a long way in bridging the communication gap between the Deaf and the Hearing community. It will also go a long way in encouraging fairness in dissemination of information.”

Meanwhile, Queen Janet Taibat Fasakin, Deaf and a producer at Nigeria Television Authorities (NTA) told INN in a statement that she had sent a message to the Minister of Information concerning the inequality in the information dissemination by President Buhari through Minister’s personal assistant and the response from the Minister of Information has been positive.

The message sent to the Minister of Information read “So sorry Sir, I mistakenly called. It’s me Janet. I work with NTA. I actually searched my contact list for your details today and luckily for me I still have it. I am that Deaf lady that came to you looking for the Minister.
Thank you so much Sir for all you do.”

“I sent my interpreter to call you concerning information going on in the country, and we the Deaf in Nigeria are sidelined, no access to information for us, imagine our President addressing the nation without an interpreter. It’s really lack of inclusion. Please anything that can be done to make provision for accessible information for all will be highly appreciated. Please Sir.”

Furthermore, INN learnt that the presidential task force on COVID-19 set up by the presidency has agreed to grant a press briefing on COVID-19 updated with the service of a sign language interpreter provided for the Deaf community and will be televised soon.