Debola Daniel, the son of Gbenga Daniel, the former governor
of Ogun, has lamented the treatment of physically challenged people in Nigeria.
In a lengthy Twitter thread on Monday, Debola also raised
concerns about how local shows unwittingly exclude people with disability
(PWD), citing the recently held concert in Lagos by Burna Boy, the Afrobeats
singer.
Burna Boy has been on the receiving end of a heated social
media backlash for insulting fans at his concert.
The music star was to perform on Sunday night but didn’t show
up until 4 am on Monday.
This reignited conversations about performing musicians
disrespecting concertgoers by showing up late at shows.
In reaction, Burna Boy blamed organisers of the show and
cited an audio glitch that delayed his performance.
Joining the discourse, Daniel spoke of the difficulties
faced by PWD who seek to attend such concerts.
“From an
accessibility perspective, that concert was a disaster,” he tweeted, before
proceeding to write a long thread.
From an accessible perspective, that concert was a disaster.
— Debola Daniel (@DebolaDaniel) January 2, 2023
Maybe later I will do a thread about how Nigerian events constantly exclude people who look like me.
It’s quite humbling to be always ‘othered’ by an industry/country I love so much.
“Maybe later I will do a thread about how Nigerian events
constantly exclude people who look like me. It’s quite humbling to be always
‘othered’ by an industry/country I love so much.”
Read the thread below:
“To be a disabled
Nigerian is a lonely, scary, and isolated place. I have often struggled to
articulate my Nigerian experience in a way people could understand.
There’s never a place for you. Not in the infrastructure,
not in social settings, and increasingly not in society. It’s a feeling of
constantly being made to act grateful for being included as an afterthought.
Everything in my life requires pre-thought and planning.
If I get to Maison Fahrenheit and the lift isn’t working.
Where do I go? If I get to The House/Danfo Bistro and I
get met with endless steps. What do I do? If I buy a table at a concert and
can’t get in, what do I do?
How do I let my friends know that it’s cool, we’d catch
up another time? How quickly can I mask my disappointment and sadness with “omo
it’s cool”? Can I handle my driver telling me that God’s time is best and not
to be so downcast as we drive back home?
I cannot count how many times I’ve been made to feel less
human at Murtala Mohammed Airport. To feel like a ‘thing’ to be handed off to
the next person down the line. Like a suitcase.
“Put him there” “park am for there” “can he talk” “sign
this for him”. It’s endless and incessant. Your voice is constantly being
stripped away. Your presence eroded. Do you know the ironic thing?
I’m a rich, powerful Nigerian. Someone that my mere
surname commands respect. I am the privileged few. I am a disabled Nigerian
whom they should respect. The one they recognise. The one they must treat well.
If my voice and my very being can be marginalised, what
then of the voice of the average disabled Nigerian out there? What then of the
Nigerian who doesn’t have the power to walk into a location with an army of
armed escorts?
I have been to hospitals that have flights of stairs to
get into. I have been to banks without ways to get in. Residential buildings
are inaccessible. Pavements cannot be wheeled upon independently. As a fiercely
independent person, I can’t live a life in Nigeria without help.
This lack of inclusion, the lack of access and the
systemic exclusion from society has been simmering inside me for years. It’s
strange that what tipped me over the edge was reading about the events that
occurred at that concert last night.
I saw clips and read tweets from the safety of my couch
and was horrified at how much planning I would have had to undertake to attend
that concert yet still end up unprepared for that.
How would I have gotten in? How would I have gotten out?
Where could I go pee? If it’s true that they were shooting tear gas and there
was a stampede, what would I have done?
Then I realised that I’m going to the same artiste’s
concert in London in a few months and I have zero of those worries. I am
privileged. I can just attend in London.
But don’t I owe it to the average disabled Nigerian to
say that with the global visibility Afrobeats is getting, maybe, just maybe
someone will remember that disabled Nigerians exist?
That we have a right to be included in the planning and
execution of the vision of Nigeria. Not just at an accessible level but at all
levels?
I would like to one day see accessibility and inclusion
made a priority not just as an afterthought. I deserve to see myself as part of
Nigeria.
To see myself being included in planning and
infrastructure. To see myself positively in Nigerian stories not just as the
cripple that Patience Ozokwor poisoned on Nollywood. I am more than a
stereotype.
I am human. And it’ll be nice if you saw that too.”
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