Niger: Inside Bida center, where the blind are teachers
It was well past 2 o’clock before the guests took leave of the Etsu Nupe, Alhaji Yahaya Abubakar to proceed to the venue of the event within the Wadata Palace that fateful day of January 13th. The event, which was an assessment visit to the Blind Vocational Centre, Bida, commenced about 20 minute later; almost five hours of the scheduled time. But the motley crowd under the two rented canopy, which had assembled as early as 10 am waited in anticipation.
For many of them, it was a life time opportunity needed to realize their potentials, generate income and eventually integrate into the larger Nigeria society.
A few metres away, the end products of their many talents, like hand-knitted female bags, chairs, shoes rug carpet and foot mat among other crafts were on display. The guest of honour and managing director of the Livelihood Initiative Dr. Kelly Nwogu, was intrigued by the immense potentials exhibited by the blind trainees of the centre through the array of crafts.
A trumpet bearing Jonah Uba staggered out from the crowd, blowing away in various tunes, with both eyes shut. The effort drew tears from the guest who stepped forward to embrace him. Uba’s story is as pathetic as other blind trainees at the centre. He was not born blind, but lost both eyes as an adult about four years ago. “The entire thing is still very strange to me because there was no indication of an anomaly from childhood,” he told Daily Trust on Sunday.
As a normal child he went through primary school, transiting six years later to secondary and then a College of Education. He later became a teacher at a private school after a fruitless search for job. Then gradually he started losing his vision. “I started visiting hospitals for treatment but to no avail,” he explained.
After a while, he lost his sight. He became indigent and totally useless to himself and society. “It was devastating and I became depressed until a friend encouraged me to enrol at the vocational centre,” he added.
He said he was initially sceptical but later succumbed to pressure. But the centre was to become a turning point for him, where among people of different backgrounds, he learnt all the intricacies of carpet making and other crafts, and as an advance student, can also read and write. “I’m now ready to face the world,” he said with visible optimism.
Our correspondent gathered that many other students of the centre started well but were later discouraged. The Etsu also noted this when he told the guests that many of the students embraced the training wholeheartedly but dropped by the way because of lack of required capital to establish themselves.
“Many of the trainees could not fulfil their dreams of bettering their lives and those of their families by becoming productive members as they could not afford the capital to enable them put their profession to effective use,” he lamented.
However help came their way through Dr. Nwogu, who the Etsu described as supporter of the less privileged. The magnanimity, he also pledged, would be extended to the structures at the centre through rehabilitation and upgrading. The centre, it was gathered, was established on October 2nd 1962, as the Blind Rehabilitation Centre along with five others in the Northwest. It was very functional under the Native Authority government, with trainees from across the North.
Our correspondent gathered that the centre has two sections, the ordinary section, which is meant to train the visually impaired in craft making and the advance unit, meant to train them on how to read and write. But with the take-over of the facility by the Niger State government, the centre began to deteriorate. It was also unable to meet the required manpower needs to actualize the dream of its founding founders. The centre, which had 15 instructors at the beginning, currently depends on two instructors, who are also blind.
Alhaji Ibrahim and Etsu Abubakar teach brail, typewriting and craft making. They are both graduates of the institution, who had additional training in institutions in Jos and Lagos. Etsu, 55, told the story of how he begged on the streets for alms for 25 years before providence beckoned through the centre.
“I decided to enrol as a trainee in the centre in 2006 and graduated in 2009,’ he explained. Today, he is one of the leading minds at the centre. His decision to return to the centre for voluntary service, according to him, was informed by his desire to contribute to its fortune, especially in view of the inadequate manpower at the centre.
Besides them, the centre also depends on volunteers and part time instructors for its training needs. However unlike the manpower that could easily be sourced, the same cannot be said of the structures within the facility which are in dire need of rehabilitation. The administrative block, the classrooms or skills acquisition rooms, the staff quarters and hostels among others are all in deplorable condition.
Aside the dilapidating state the existing hostels are without doors and windows, while the class rooms are without chairs and out of the 20 iron beds in the hostels, only 8 are with mattresses.
Daily Trust on Sunday learnt that the facility has never undergone renovation since it was established. Basic infrastructure such as electricity and water among others are lacking. So also were the basic tools needed to acquire the necessary skills. The Etsu Nupe lamented that the centre could boast of only one typewriter, which like the structures, is old and unserviceable.
There is also hardly enough fund to acquire the much needed raw materials for training. The centre, our correspondent learnt, depends mostly on occasional interventions from religious organization like the Anglican Mission, NASFAT and a few public spirited individuals. The Bida emirate, Daily Trust on Sunday learnt, also intervenes in the area of feeding and provision of water. Our correspondent further gathered that the state government through the supervising Ministry of Women Affairs is responsible for salary of staff and feeding. The centre has no security as it is without fence. Because of the situation, private developers have taken over half of its land.
But the story is not all gloomy, as the centre has despite its challenges continued to churn out churn out graduates. Malam Bala Bello, the coordinator of rehabilitation in charge of Zone A said 5, 000 less privileged trainees graduated from the centre in the last 10 years. Among them is one Aminu Garba who learnt tailoring from the centre five years ago .
He lost his father at a young age and his uncle could not afford his education. He therefore enrolled at the centre as a trainee tailor in 2012. Today, he has a flourishing tailoring shop, where he also trains others to become useful members of the society.
Beyond the dilapidating structure, Dr. Nwogu also promised to provide mattresses, beddings and tools to enhance teaching and learning at the centre, while also pledging to empower the trainees with capital to practice their vocations after the training programme.
Dr Nwogu, who recalled the painful memory of how he was raised as an only child of a crippled mother said, “if we don’t help them, their children would suffer and crime rate would increase”, stressing that poverty leads to crime.
He said about N100 billion is being sourced by the Initiative to intervene in various projects aimed at empowering physically challenged persons across the country.