BY TIMOTHY AGBOR, OSOGBO
David, a man in his late 30s has been depending majorly on his family members ever since 2018 when he was struck with spinal cord injury following an accident he had while traveling to Lagos for a job interview.
After the road mishap that left David incapacitated, his family members have been responsible for his means of livelihood as he could no longer work.
David has been very sad owing to complaints of economic hardship from his breadwinners.
“I have been staying with my brother in this state (Osun) since I had the accident that left me inside this wheel. He has been trying for me but lately, things have been tough for him as his salary can no longer sustain him, not to talk of myself. Inflation in the prices of food items and rents has been making it difficult for him to take care of me.
“He is yet to pay his last rent and the landlord has been disturbing him. This is because our landlord increased the rent last year and coupled with other rising expenses, he has not been able to meet up. The harsh economy is really making me develop high blood pressure and I don’t know what I will do if the landlord chases my brother out of the house,” David lamented, adding, “We now struggle to eat two times a day.”
David’s pitiable condition is not too different from other PWDs who have been struggling to make ends meet as Nigeria’s economy continues to bite harder. They said their disabilities have made it difficult for them to cope, decrying abandonment by the government at all levels.
They said many of them have been unemployed, lacking skills and unable to acquire quality education. To make matters worse, the PWDs claimed that many of them did not benefit from the recent palliative distributed by state governments.
For the Northern Nigeria Disability Forum, the continued delay in releasing government palliatives to its members is condemnable and a proof that government has been insensitive to the plights of the PWDs.
The group’s National Organising Secretary, Bulus Chuanoemoh, raised the alarm that persons with disabilities in the northern part of the country were dying in silence as a result of the development.
He disclosed that they had not heard any provision or an agency that they could meet to apply for palliatives as persons with disabilities.
He said, “There is nothing like palliatives up till this moment and our people are dying in silence. We are actually in a big mess because we don’t have what it takes to feed. Feeding is becoming a problem.
“Transporting oneself is also a problem because there is no money. We need the help of the government. We need the government to be serious about this because we do not know what to do at the moment because our people are dying in silence.”
Members of the Nigeria Association of the Blind explained that they could barely feed themselves.
According to them, purchasing food items is gradually turning into impossibility for them as their prices keep soaring on a daily basis.
They urged President Bola Tinubu and state governors to act fast before they all die of starvation and ill health.
The Chairman of Osun State Chapter of NAB, Akinsola Adekunle, said many of them don’t have any means of livelihood because of their physical impairments, lamenting that the few who were employed as special school teachers by the then administration of Gboyega Oyetola have lost their jobs since the inception of the government of Ademola Adeleke.
“I must confess to you that this is not the best time for us the blind as well as other persons living with disabilities in this country. Everything is expensive. I am a teacher in a government school and what I am earning is not even enough for me. I have two children and a wife to feed. You can see me complaining; now imagine the condition of many of my members who don’t even have any work. These people depend on their family members for sustenance.
“During the naira scarcity crisis, some of our members were in pathetic situations. Eating became a problem. Our situation is now worse. That is why we are calling on governments to help us the blind and others living with one form of disability or the other. As you know, Nigerians at large are complaining. If those who are able-bodied cannot have three square meals anymore, how much more we that live with disabilities. Things are really bad for us and we cannot hide this,” Adekunle said.
The country’s accelerating inflation, a consequence of a weakening naira, fuel and diesel price surge and escalating insecurity which have put a strain on agriculture output, have thrown households and businesses across Nigeria into more hardship. Citizens’ businesses are weighed down by stalled income growth and rising prices and amplifying cost of living in Africa’s biggest economy.
