By Oyeleke Bernice
Mr. Olufemi is the Founder of F.F.F Advocacy Base, promoting inclusion and immediate past Secretary General, Ogun State Association of the Deaf. He is a Civil Servant.
Meet Mr. Olufemi Ebenezer Adeosun as he shares inspiring story to encourage others:
My name is Adeosun Olufemi Ebenezer, I hail from ogun state, Nigeria.
JOURNEY INTO DEAFNESS
I became Deaf at the age of 15 after recuperating from meningitis. I was a high school (senior) student. In a bid to restore my hearing, my parents took me to several religious / spiritual places which yielded no result. After a year of shopping for solution with a lot of money wasted, yet no result,
I became frustrated. I began pressing on my parents the need for me to return to school. I tried to convince them to allow me further my education while we keep praying for miracle as God does answer prayers even in the bedroom. So, they should stop taking me around. It didn’t go down well with them initially, but I succeeded in making them reason along.
My parents began searching for a deaf school to enroll me in and made enquiries from friends and family members. A cousin informed them about Wesley school for the Deaf, Surulere, Lagos (a primary school) with hope that they will get proper information about secondary school for the deaf from the school. Therefore, we visited the school to make enquiry of a befitting special school for me. The management of the school back then told my parents that, no matter the level of education a child might have acquired, once he/she experienced hearing loss, there will surely be a memory loss, the child has to begin his/her educational career from the Special Primary School. I was enrolled into Primary 5 class. I wept every morning when asked to read multiplication table.
Upon completion of a term at Wesley school, the school management evaluated my performance in class which changed their mindset about their false belief. They sent for my parents and discussed with them. Afterwards, they advised my parents to enroll me at Federal Science and Technical College, Yaba, Lagos. I have acquired the knowledge of Sign Language by then, I gained admission into Federal Science and Technical College, Yaba, Lagos where I studied Refrigeration & Air-Conditioning Craft, the school is an inclusive school so, I learnt further the Sign Language from my Deaf schoolmates. After the period of 3 years, I graduated from the Technical School. I, later on, gained admission at the Federal Polytechnic Ilaro, where I studied Quantity Surveying.
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