Visually Impaired Students Face Discrimination in Nigerian Universities Despite Laws

On a sunny morning in mid-October 2024, Chikamso Ogbu* stood by the front wall of Okpara Hall, one of the female hostels at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka (UNN) in Enugu State, southeastern Nigeria.

Save for her frequent gropes and occasional calls for help from passers-by, it was not immediately apparent that the 300-level undergraduate was visually impaired. She neither walked with an aide nor wore sunglasses.

She was trying to attend a lecture in her class but needed aid getting to the class. 

Her hopes rose when she noticed that two people–also undergraduates–were passing by.  She appealed to them to help take her to class, but they rebuffed her.

She had spent more than an hour and had already become frustrated when her friend, who often guided her, arrived. Together, they hurried to the class, carefully climbing the stairs. They would later find out the class had been cancelled. 

“Everything is just traumatising,” Chikamso said of the difficulty getting to the class. 

“Sometimes, after considering what it takes to get to class–the steps, the stony pathways, and being ignored by others–I would rather not go.”

Neglect, discrimination 

For years, students with disability in UNN have complained of discrimination and neglect from other students and even university authorities. The absence of good hostel facilities accessible and usable for them and the lack of walkaways have made life tough for them, investigations have shown. 

Visually impaired students are usually accommodated in the same hostels as other students despite the hostel blocks lacking accessibility aids such as elevators and ramps. The situation is the same in all the classrooms these reporters visited during this investigation.

In addition, the two male hostels in the university, especially Eni-Njoku, have become reference points for poor electrical connections, exposing visually impaired students to risks of electrocution. 

Some wires are commonly seen dangling dangerously inside hostel rooms and corridors. 

The poor electrical connections in the university came to light on 14 June 2021 when Emeka Ezeudo, a visually impaired third-year music student at the time, tragically lost his life due to electrocution in his hostel. 

His death was initially attributed to suicide despite witnesses confirming he was electrocuted to death. At the time, visually impaired students in the university filed out and protested against the death of Ezeudo. Many of them said authorities had remained mute despite their frequent complaints about safety hazards, including electrocution risks, in hostels.

The institution’s then Dean of Student Affairs, Edwin Omeje, would later promise to investigate the incident.

“The investigation showed that the student, Ezeudo, was electrocuted,” Omeje, a professor, confirmed to reporters on December 4 2024.

The former dean said the investigation showed that the deceased student had stepped out in the midnight at the hostel unaided for an unknown reason and mistakenly matched on water near where a naked electricity wire had fallen and got electrocuted. He regretted that supervisors were unavailable to avert the situation. 

Between June and July 2024, Daniel Mbadiwe*, a male student of the Mass Communication department, suffered severe electrocution at Eni-Njoku hostel when he attempted to plug his charger into a socket to charge his mobile phone.

“I thought I would die like Emeka Ezeudo,” Mbadiwe said. “The table, the floor, the walls – everything was electrocuting. I cannot wish even my enemy what I experienced with the poor connection,” he said. 

Sad tales of discrimination, non-inclusivity of visually impaired students

Ogbu, Mbadiwe, and the late Ezeudo were not the only people who had battled discrimination and faced challenges due to the lack of accessibility aids in UNN. Multiple students who spoke to these reporters said that they had suffered depression linked to discrimination and harassment by lecturers, which made them perform poorly academically.

Some narrated how they struggle to move around the campus because they often face the risk of being knocked down by speeding vehicles. Due to the absence of walkways, they usually bruise their legs, scrape their hands, or hit their heads against stones and tree branches. 

They are now easily identified by their scarred legs and swollen heads. However, their challenges are often exacerbated by the attitude of other students on campus.

Around March 2024, there was water scarcity in the university hostels. While other students easily hustled for water from different sources outside the hostel environments, students with disability could only imagine it. 

Emerson Okoro*, a first-year student, overcame the odds by helping himself with sachet water and heading to the classroom without aid.

However, the university environment was not as friendly as he thought. He eventually fell into a gutter and injured himself.

“I felt like I should not have even come here,” Okoro said.

Investigations by these reporters showed that many students at the university discriminate against persons with disability because they perceive them as “cursed or suffering affliction due to their evil deeds in the past.”

“One day I was going to class, and I begged one of my classmates to help me hold a visually impaired student as I couldn’t hold five of them, but he said he could not touch her,” said Favour Chukwuebuka,  a 300-level student of Special Needs education, who guides visually imapaired students in UNN. 

Some students often tag mobile canes, a vital tool used for navigation, as symbols of a curse..

“The only time people help is when we have already fallen into a gutter, crashed into a wall, or tripped from a height,” Uchechukwu Nnabuife*, one student, lamented.

Like students, like lecturers

Students say lecturers are also complicit in making life tough for visually impaired students in the university.

Some often hold impromptu tests and assignments without consideration for persons with disability.  Such impromptu tests and assignments leave some students scrambling to find someone who can transcribe for them. 

Chikamso said, like other visually impaired students, insults were often hurled at her even when she did the right things, like submitting her assignments on time.

“If I don’t submit on time, I have to run after lecturers. And when I do submit on time, they (lecturers) assume someone helped me cheat,” she said.

During examinations, visually impaired students are permitted to bring in anyone from a different department who can help write what they dictate as answers to examination questions, which are usually read out to them. Those who can do such an examination with their laptops are permitted.

But in examination halls, accusations of cheating are commonly made against them, especially when the students, guided by their aids, step out to print out their answer sheets for submission.

“I was accused of bringing an outsider to cheat for me,” Chigozie Okeke*, another student, said, almost sobbing.

 “It’s so humiliating.” 

An official of the Association of Students with Special Needs (ASSN) in UNN said the body had repeatedly asked for a resource centre equipped with laptops for visually impaired students writing examinations. But the university management has ignored the request. 

“When someone writes for me, it feels empty. If only they would provide laptops, maybe we wouldn’t face this constant harassment,” the official, who asked not to be named, said.

“Everything here is stressful for a visually impaired student.”

What the law says

About 15 per cent of Nigeria’s population, or at least 25 million people, have a disability, according to the World Health Organisation’s 2011 World Disability Report. 

In 2023, the National Commission for Persons with Disabilities (NCPWD) reported that the figure had jumped to 35.1 million.

Earlier in 2018, Nigeria enacted the Discrimination Against Persons with Disabilities (Prohibition) Act, following nine years of advocacy by disability groups and activists in Nigeria.  It was signed into law on January 23, 2019, by the country’s then-president, Muhammadu Buhari

The Act, among other provisions, seeks to eliminate discrimination against persons with disabilities, ensure access to public buildings and vehicles, and foster inclusive education in all public organisations.

The Act also ordered the provision of sidewalks, pedestrian crossings, and all other special facilities for persons with disability, imposing sanctions in the form of fines and imprisonment for defaulters. 

Importantly, the Act stipulates a five-year transitional period for public buildings and structures to become accessible and usable for persons with disability. This implies that the law cannot be enforced until January 2024. 

But despite the existence of this Act, investigations revealed many universities have not made progress.

While some departments require visually impaired students to personally arrange for aids to help them in writing during examinations, others insist that these students can only take exams if they bring their laptops or typewriters.

Some complained that the requirement imposes double financial and logistical burdens on them. Many of the students have repeatedly suffered denial of opportunities to participate in exams with attendant effects on their mental health.

Zero inclusivity

In UNN, some lecturers often ask students to buy hard-copy textbooks and other materials as part of their continuous assessment, according to students. Visually impaired students are shocked that this is also required of them despite their apparent inability to read.

Okeke, one such student, recalled that an unnamed lecturer in his department had mocked visually impaired students who had complained that they would only be able to read soft-copy textbooks, much less hard-copy, which he had instructed them to buy at the rate of N5,500 per copy.

“He has never provided us with a soft copy or any alternative. It’s embarrassing and frustrating,” Okeke lamented. 

“I have studied for hours, but because I didn’t buy the textbook, I got an E. It’s not just me—every four of the visually impaired students in that class gets the same result in every course taught by this particular lecturer, regardless of the effort we put in,” another student, who asked not to be named, said.

“We get the grade they think we deserve, not what we earned,” he lamented.

Like UNN, like UNIBEN and UNIZIK

Like in UNN, cases of discrimination and non-inclusivity of people with disability are rife in the University of Benin (UNIBEN) and Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka (NAU, popularly known as UNIZIK).

Findings by these reporters showed that there has been no record of prosecution despite the widespread violation of the provision across the Nigerian universities.

At UNIZIK, for instance, most visually impaired students prefer to stay in lodges outside the campus for privacy, security, and better treatment. Some students attribute the reason to the poor condition of hostels and stony pathways in the institution.

Favour Mbadiwe*, a visually impaired UNIZIK law student, believes that resources for accessibility, such as screen readers and exam support, are limited in the institution.

Mbadiwe said that although he had not yet suffered harassment, lecturers often doubt their ability to learn, adapt and compete with other students. 

He said that despite promises, the university management had yet to address mobility challenges and provide materials in audio format for visually impaired students.

UNN silent

Okwun Omeaku, the UNN spokesperson, was unavailable when journalists visited his office on December 3, 2024. When contacted on the telephone, Omeaku said he had lost a family relative and would speak on the matter later.

But he has not responded to subsequent calls and text messages seeking his comments.

Poor implementation

Nigerian universities have done little to implement the disability Act as evident in the lack of accessible infrastructure, discriminatory practices, and inadequate hostel facilities, said Ecstasy Gentle, a human rights lawyer based in Abakaliki, Ebonyi State.

Gentle noted that lack of awareness of the Act was partly responsible for its poor implementations in Nigeria.

The lawyer challenged visually impaired students to report cases of discrimination to university authorities and seek redress in court if no action was taken.

“The law empowers you to act,” he said.

“Injustices will persist if you stay silent. Know your rights, seek a lawyer, and hold institutions accountable.”

On his part, Onyebuchi Mba, the chairperson of the Joint National Association of Persons with Disabilities, Enugu State Chapter, believes that policymakers have failed to fully integrate persons with disabilities into the education system.

Mba, also the South-east Zonal coordinator of the Nigerian Association of the visually impaired, stressed that inclusive education should eliminate segregation and ensure equal opportunities.

He, however, argued that the disability Act of 2018 does not adequately address all the requirements for a truly inclusive educational environment.

“Negative societal attitudes and ignorance of legal provisions hinder progress,” he said, calling for active involvement from the ministries of education and information to promote inclusivity.

---

This story was produced with support from the Tiger Eye Foundation under the “On Nigeria Programme”, funded by the MacArthur Foundation.