The Nigeria National Association of the Deaf Youth Section (NNADYS) has organized a workshop to raise awareness about sign languages and promote Inclusivity on roads. The workshop was aimed to train selected officers from the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) on the basic Nigerian Sign Language (NSL) using sign language flashcards.
Through practical exercises facilitated by vibrant youths with disabilities the FRSC officers gained valuable insights into sign language and learnt how to better interact with individuals who are deaf and hard-of-hearing. By understanding and using sign language, selected FRSC officers can now communicate with deaf and hard-of-hearing people on a basic level.
The National Youth Leader, Amb. Ebuka Okeke, said “this initiative was programmed to cover all the zones in the country starting with north central. He stressed that his administration aims to create more opportunities and seek for more fundings to carryout life changing opportunities that would be beneficial to the larger deaf community of which this was his first initiative, he hopes to do more as time progresses.
Barr. Catherine Chinyere the Executive Director, Voice of Disability Initiative emphasized on developing an APP to aid in bridging the communication gap which often arise as a result of challenges faced by both the deaf and the road safety officers in accessing communication. She further stressed on the need for more collaboration and training of road safety officers on sign language.
According to her, “knowing the language is synonymous to saving a life, which automatically mean saving the nation from catastrophic consequences that might arise as a result of negligence.”
Mr Ayoade Beyioku-alase, the Chairman of Abuja Association of the Deaf also spoke on the need for collaboration, he emphasized on the important of building the sign language capacity of the officers to enhance better communication and access which according to him was necessary for promoting an inclusive society and increasing trust amongst the road safety officers and the deaf community.
Mr Agbo Christian, the Executive Director, Qualitative Magazine, opined that the need for an inclusive society cannot be overemphasized.
He stressed the need for the road safety officers to come up with better and innovative ideas on the best approach to be adopted in easy identification of PWD road users. He therefore proposed that the road safety officers should come up with something like stickers that would be given to all PWDs to stick on their cars as a means of identifying them on the road.