Nigeria: Leaping Through Disability

Paul Dada

9 January 2011
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While some people allow their conditions in life to restrain them from forging ahead in life, others brave all odds in their quest to attain their life goals. Abiodun Elugbaju is one of those who refused to be quenched by physical disability.

One thing most physically challenged people do is seek sympathy from people by drawing attention to their predicament. This is why it is common to see those who are handicapped begging for alms from members of the public. These people seem to hold the notion that they can only amount to nothing in the society. They have low self-esteem, are bedeviled by a sense of inferiority complex hence, they take to using their condition as a means to making a living.

There are however, a few of these physically disabled persons who would rather believe in what they can do to help themselves. These have acquired education and skills which are capable of making them largely self reliant. They believe in the doctrine of ability in disability. One of them is Abiodun Elugbaju, an erudite blind Education Correspondent with Choice FM, Lagos, one of the radio stations owned by the Federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria (FRCN).


Today, Elugbaju, fondly called Otunba by friends and associates is as agile as any reporter. His disability does not restrict him from carrying out any assignment as you are sure to find him at any event that has to do with the education beat he covers.


He is not deterred by the intractable Lagos traffic however heavy, neither does inclement weather conditions. He exudes confidence. His gait does not show him to be one who is disabled. He does not feel inferior to any of his colleagues who have their full sight.



Elugbaju is humorous and sociable, being a sanguine. According to Tim Lahaye, a Christian psychologist, the sanguine is a super extrovert who is lively, outspoken, sociable and friendly. Elugbaju enjoys life too much to engage in self pity. Sympathy from people might even irk him since he attemps everything those who are not physically challenged do.



This blind journalist uses the laptop with ease and handles a tape recorder well and his sense of hearing is very sharp, making it easy for him to recognise people easily by their voices. He also has no problem with entering contacts in his phone and reading text messages.



Elugbaju knows the contents of a text message through a special software in his phone. The software is an audio device through which a recipient can hear messages sent to him.



Although vivacious and undaunted by his physical challenge, his story is not that of courage and fortitude which he now shows. The reason for his initial discouragement was because he was not born blind, so blindness to him was a shock.



Elugbaju who was born on 15 August, 1972 at Ile-Ife in Osun State, attended Ansarudeen Primary School, Ogbon Agbara, Ile-Ife, after which he attended Anglican Commercial Grammar School, Iyekere, Ile-Ife. "I lost my mother in 1975. So my father started taking care of me until 7th January, 1988 when I lost the poor man".



"I was the only male child of my father and the first child of my mother. (My mother had a girl for someone else. My father had other girls by another woman)."



After the death of his father, Elugbaju had to stop going to school as a junior class student. Although, it was naturally painful that Elugbaju who was a brilliant student had to leave, there was nothing he could do about it hence, his circumstance forced him to become a bus conductor.



"My father had died and there was nobody to take care of my education. There were no relatives to take care of me, all I had were empty promises. This prompted to go and work as a bus conductor. But since I was not used to that kind of life, I formed a habit of resuming late to work".



"Any time I missed work, I would go to the University of Ife (now Obafemi Awolowo University) where I was working as one of the people they called 'Omo'. The 'Omos' were errand boys who did all kind of tasks for students. These could include washing of clothes and plates," he recounted.



At first, Elugbaju tried to combine his education with the job of a bus conductor, but he could not cope, so he had to resign himself to the fact that he was a school dropout. But from being a bus conductor, Elugbaju became a farmer.



His grandmother took him to a village called Alapata to work in a cocoa plantation owned by her uncle. The grandmother wanted him to inherit the plantation owned by her own uncle since the man had no child. At this point, Elugbaju was pleading that he be allowed to continue with his education at least up to senior secondary school level. Nobody however, seemed to be interested in his dream.



A ray of hope came when his half sister who was based in Kaduna came to take him away from the village. But his hope was dashed as Oluremi, the sister preferd he trained to become a mechanic in Kaduna. She also made him join her in her food vending business near Mando Park in Kaduna for two years.



After much entreaty from Oluremi's son, she allowed Elugbaju to start school some years later. He enrolled in Sardauna Memorial College, Kaduna in 1990. As the young man continued to savour the euphoria of being back in school, he lacked the premonition that he would soon develop a disease which would plunge him into a life of perpetual darkness.



In March of the same year, he had a terrible headache which was diagnosed as migraine. He was given medication and after that, Elugbaju said he ate white amala and draw soup given to him by his sister and that was the last thing he remembers having been unconscious for six days.



When he regained conciousness, h e discovered that everywhere was dark, he yelled for light and that was when he realised he could no longer see.



"So I went to the general hospital in Kaduna where I was diagonised with cataract. I was scheduled for an appointment on October 3, 1990 but before the appointment, some drugs were prescribed for me which my sister refused to buy and on the day of the appointment, she said she could not leave her shop.



"In spite of my situation, she made me work at home. And this included washing her underwear and boiling water for her bath."



Elugbaju who was in his twenties at the time was disillusioned. "I never imagined I would be blind. I thought I was the only blind person in existence and this made me think of what I had done to deserve this." This made him attempt suicide but his efforts at suicide failed.



His orientation however, changed when a preacher came to preach to him in the house where he lived. From that time, he became spiritually inclined and went as far as looking for a miracle at a crusade held in Kaduna by the German evangelist, Reinhard Bonnke.



The only miracle which he later got in his life was a positive change in self- perception. He got involved in a church and a man with the heart of gold in that church sponsored him through blind school in Ijebu-Igbo, Ogun State.



"When I was there, I learned braille reading, craft-making, typewriting and animal husbandry. After that, I went back to school at Adeola Odutola College, Ijebu-Ode, starting JSS 3 at the age of 23." This was in 1994. He was a recipient of several scholarships during his secondary education.



In December, 1999, Elugbaju gained admission to read Mass Communication in the University of Lagos. While in the university, Elugbaju coped well. His friends read materials to him while he recorded them on tape. During exams, questions were read to him and he answered them.

He belonged to social clubs, was involved in Students' Union activities and during his service year, participated in many of the drills at the NYSC orientation camp.


Elugbaju after his service year was employed by the FRCN where he still works. He has since bagged a Master's degree from the University of Lagos but he is yet to get his result.

Apart from being a journalist, Elugbaju is a member of a musical band. He plays the talking drum and also plays the keyboard to an extent.


Commenting on the ability of Elugbaju and his attitude to work, Mr. Amos Alfa, Head of Department, News/Current Affairs at FRCN (Choice FM) said, "I have tested and tried him and have seen that he is more reliable than some who have their sight. Before he goes for an assignment, he asks relevant questions. When he goes to an event, he knows what questions to ask. He is up to date. He is also spiritually inclined".

The story of Abiodun Elugbaju is indeed that of resilience and triumph. And it is a lesson for those who are weighed down by one disability or the other.