Firdaus Obiremi
Persons with visual impairments have called on governments, financial institutions and other stakeholders to dismantle discriminatory barriers and provide accessible infrastructure, employment opportunities and equal access to essential services.
They also urged authorities to move beyond temporary financial handouts and charity-based interventions towards sustainable policies that guarantee the independence, dignity and economic empowerment of persons with disabilities.
The stakeholders made the call on Friday in Abeokuta, Ogun State, during the 2026 International White Cane Safety Day and Empowerment Programme organised by the Nigerian Association of the Blind, Abeokuta South Chapter.
The programme, themed, “Knights of the Blind in the Modern Era: Championing Mobility, Digital Financial Access, and Livelihood Inclusion for Persons with Visual Impairments,” brought together members of the association, legal practitioners, disability rights advocates, Lions Club International and other stakeholders.
Speaking at the event, the Chairperson of the NAB Abeokuta South Chapter, Mrs Oluwatomisi Adeyefa Olatayo, said persons with visual impairments wanted equal opportunities to participate in society rather than being treated as objects of pity.
Olatayo stressed that persons with disabilities should be included in decision-making processes and given the necessary support to pursue education, employment and other livelihood opportunities.
“We want to live in a society free from discrimination and stigma, where we are free to live as humanly as possible,” she said.
She urged members of the public to replace sympathy-driven interventions with genuine support for disability rights, insisting that persons with visual impairments deserved opportunities to become self-reliant.
“The Bible says to love your neighbour as yourself. Love us genuinely; do not pity us. We want the opportunity to thrive, not charity or peanuts. Disability rights are human rights,” she added.
Olatayo acknowledged the contributions of Lions Club International, the Beyond Limits Initiative for Women and Girls with Disabilities, and the Joint National Association of Persons with Disabilities, Ogun State Chapter, to efforts aimed at improving the welfare of persons with disabilities.
Also speaking, the Director of Media and Communications of Junior Chamber International, Abeokuta, Mr Kareem Owolabi, who represented the member representing Abeokuta South I Constituency in the Ogun State House of Assembly, Hon. Lukman Atobatele, said disability should not determine an individual’s worth or limit their potential.
Owolabi argued that distributing money and relief materials without addressing the structural challenges confronting persons with disabilities would do little to secure their long-term independence.
He called for stronger legislation at the grassroots and state levels to protect the rights of persons with disabilities and ensure their access to public facilities, healthcare and economic opportunities.
Highlighting JCI Abeokuta’s humanitarian interventions, Owolabi said the organisation had facilitated the participation of 40 medical professionals from the United States in a medical outreach during which more than 135 free surgeries were performed, including 50 cataract procedures.
He added that guiding canes and crutches were also distributed as part of the intervention.
Owolabi called on lawmakers, community leaders, government agencies and non-governmental organisations to work together to improve infrastructure, expand medical outreach programmes and strengthen policies supporting persons with disabilities.
In his keynote address, a Solicitor of the Supreme Court of Nigeria and co-founder of Aiding the Blind in Nigeria, Barrister Olayinka Komolafe, said the major challenge confronting visually impaired Nigerians was not blindness itself but the institutional and environmental barriers that restricted their independence.
Referencing Helen Keller’s 1925 address to members of the Lions Club, in which she challenged them to become “knights of the blind in the crusade against darkness,” Komolafe said the modern-day struggle required society to confront discriminatory systems rather than view blindness as a personal limitation.
“The real darkness in Nigeria is not blindness—it is the systemic barriers that turn blindness into a disability,” he said.
Komolafe criticised the poor state of pedestrian infrastructure, warning that distributing white canes without providing safe walkways, tactile paving, accessible audio traffic signals and specialised orientation and mobility training would not adequately address the difficulties faced by visually impaired people.
He cited Section 5 of the Discrimination Against Persons with Disabilities (Prohibition) Act, 2018, which provides for accessibility in public buildings and infrastructure, including pedestrian walkways, and lamented what he described as inadequate implementation of the law.
The legal practitioner also raised concerns about the exclusion of visually impaired people from digital financial services, particularly automated teller machines and mobile banking applications that lack adequate accessibility features.
According to him, the situation sometimes forces visually impaired customers to depend on other people to conduct financial transactions, exposing their confidential personal identification numbers and compromising their financial security.
He urged commercial banks to make their digital platforms accessible, equip their facilities with appropriate assistive technology and train employees to serve customers with disabilities professionally.
Komolafe further called on banks to review requirements that compel visually impaired account holders to sign indemnity forms, arguing that such practices could create additional barriers to financial inclusion.
On economic empowerment, he cited World Health Organisation data which he said showed that 80 per cent of visually impaired Nigerians lived in poverty because of unemployment and inadequate access to capital.
He urged government agencies, civil society organisations and development partners to expand access to vocational training, business financing and sustainable livelihood programmes for persons with visual impairments.
Komolafe maintained that genuine inclusion required more than the provision of mobility aids, stressing that governments and private institutions must create an environment in which persons with disabilities could move freely, access services independently and participate fully in economic and social life.
“The white cane is a symbol of independence, not a symbol of pity,” he said, urging visually impaired Nigerians to continue advocating for the enforcement of disability rights and the removal of barriers to equal participation.
The stakeholders reiterated that achieving meaningful inclusion would require coordinated action by government institutions, businesses, civil society groups and communities to translate disability rights legislation into practical improvements in the daily lives of persons with visual impairments.
'
'Do you want to share a story with us? Do you want to advertise with us? Do you need publicity for a product, service, or event? Contact us on WhatsApp +2348183319097 Email: platformtimes@gmail.com
We are committed to impactful investigative journalism for human interest and social justice. Your donation will help us tell more stories. Kindly donate any amount HERE
'