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| ASPLSCD at the event. Photo credit: Okechukwu Onuegbu |
The organizers of the State banquet to celebrate Chief Engr Arthur Eze at 75, failed to put into cognizance that all the elderlies, vulnerables, and persons living with disabilities, they invited to attend the occasion would be needing as little as sachet water to quench their taste for making such long and tedious journeys from different parts of the State.
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| Disability community. Photo credit: Okechukwu Onuegbu |
Some of them sick and looking very frail, supported with walking aides and crutches, left their abode at sunrise and was already at Emmaus house Awka, venue of the occasion, by 8:00am. The event was tagged “ A Day With The Elderly, Vulnerables, And People Living With Disabilities.”
Under the hot afternoon sun, old men and women well past 70 years, were looking dejected and disillusioned as they sat on grasses and concrete gutters, a makeshift they have to resort to after not being able to secure seats for themselves, while not distance way, political elites, religious leaders, traditional rulers, and their likes, sat in opulence inside VIP tents, red carpets rolled out, and an array of assorted meals and refreshments at their beck and call. Why would anyone subject our senior citizens to such public ridicule, shame and embarrassment for his or her own selfish gains?
Findings from our oral interviews revealed how these vulnerable groups of people were deceived into coming, thinking that their welfares including transportation would be taken care of. But by 4pm, at the closing hours of the event, quite a large numbers of these elderlies, vulnerables, and disability people, were yet to have some refreshments. Those who were fortunate enough and came with their own personal money had no other option than bring it out and bought snacks and water from hawkers and other food vendors, while the unfortunate ones can only look on in hopelessness.
Speaking about the inhumane treatment her group received at the event, National Coordinator, Association of People Living with Sickle Cell Disorder, Aisha Edward Maduagwu, said what shocked her the most was how she was embarrassed when called up to the rostrum to cut the cake alongside the celebrant and other dignitaries. According to her, a man whom she suspected to be an aide to the celebrant questioned her and a conversation ensued thus;
Man- what are you doing here?
Aisha- I am a sickle cell person representing sickle cell people as their national coordinator.
Man- No no no, please go back, you look too clean to be a sickler, go and get the dirty ones.”
To our rude shock, how can they expect fellow citizens to look haggardly, dirty and unkempt, just because they have disability or medical challenges? That was the sort of treatment meted on other vulnerables as well. No tangible response or assistance could be gotten from any government aide present, as they absolutely absolved themselves from any blame, while pointing fingers at each other as the cause of the poor reception.
In her own words, Aisha Edward said she was called and invited to bring her group to the programme that same morning. A situation she considered belittling and disrespectful due to the time frame. But the persistence of the caller, while assuring Aisha that the governor would want to have an audience with all vulnerable groups, including persons living with sickle cell disorder, made her to forgo other engagements and made frantic efforts to gather some of her members to the venue.
To Aisha Edward who spoke extensively about the inhumane treatments, demanded an apology from the organizers of the event. She said her attending the event was neither to eat nor drink, but to meet the governor on behalf of the sickle cell community in the State.
“I am not here for the food or bags of rice to be shared, but because the name of the governor was mentioned in the invitation and also the longstanding respect our sickle cell community have for Engr Arthur Eze.”
“ I built a sickle cell specialist clinic at Ukpo the hometown of the celebrant, courtesy of Arthur Eze, a legacy in his honour for generations to come.”
More shocking tales of woes and disappointments from persons with disabilities trailed the event. Even a senoir official of the Joint National Association of Persons with Disability ( JONAPWD) was seen hailing a sachet water hawker that happened to pass by, after he complained that his throat was parched from long hours of staying under the sun without any refreshments for his group from the organizers. They further lamented on their frustrations and inability to return back home because no provisions have been made to pay for the buses that would conveyed them to and fro, according to the agreement they had with the organizers.
~ Edozie Maduagwu
Reports from Awka.