Visual impairment is nothing but the loss of sight not the loss of mind which means it can never hinder critical thinking in order to provide solutions. This clarifies and emphasizes the need for visually impaired persons to be held along in all aspects of life, knowing fully that they have a role to play.
Yes, it is clear that there are some strategic points that blind people must be assisted for them to get things done properly. But this does not in any way differentiates them from the so-called normal people. Who is 100%? The answer here is nobody. Everybody has his or her own peculiarity in this life and need one help or the other at a point in time.
Imagine if the stomach says that it can be independent and do not need the help of any part of the body, since it is the one that stores the food which human being needs to carry out the necessary activities. Then who will go to the market and buy the food for it? Who will chew it? And how can the food possibly get into the stomach? So, even our body’s works based on collaboration.
The first white cane was introduced in the year 1931 by George A. Bonham, a member of The Lions Club in Michigan, USA; a volunteer organization dedicated to leadership development through community service which include – Fighting blindness through vision screenings, equipping hospitals and clinics, and distributing medicine.
In the year 1964: The US Congress passed a resolution recognizing the white cane as a symbol of independence for the blind.
Then President Lyndon B. Johnson, the 36th American president proclaimed October 15th as White Cane Safety Day in the year 1966.
And the name was later changed to International White Cane Day in the year 2011, to emphasize independence and accessibility.
White canes are purposely provided to aid visually impaired persons in times of navigation and to promote accessibility and independence. You can imagine how blind individuals struggled to find their way before the coming of white canes.
There are several types of White Canes, each serving a specific purpose. The major ones are: The Traditional/Standard White Canes:
Which comprises of Long White Cane (5-6 feet): For general mobility and navigation. And the Short White Cane (3-4 feet): For individuals with partial sight or limited mobility.
The second category are the Specialized White Canes. These are: Identification White Cane: For individuals with low vision, indicating need for assistance; Support White Cane: For individuals with mobility or balance issues; Travel White Cane: Collapsible, lightweight, and compact for travel; Off-Set White Cane: For individuals with arthritis or hand mobility issues; Ambulatory White Cane: For individuals with mobility impairments; And we also have the Technological White Canes which consist of the Smart White Cane: Equipped with sensors, GPS, and Bluetooth connectivity; Electronic White Cane: With ultrasonic sensors for obstacle detection; and the GPS-Enabled White Cane: For navigation and location tracking.
The issue here is that these white canes are very expensive, and the advanced or technological white canes are very rare in our localities, making the blind brethren here to alternatively be using woods, metals and other handmade canes despites the fact that the world is fast developing.
We need NGOs like The Beautiful Gate in Jos, Plateau state, a non-profitable organization geared towards assisting persons with special needs with things like white canes, wheelchairs and other necessary equipment.
The theme for the 2024 white cane day celebration is Empowering impaired individuals, promoting inclusion and accessibility. And this theme is put in place considering how blind people have been left behind most especially in developing countries like Nigeria.
And when we are talking about empowerment, promoting inclusion and accessibility among visually impaired persons, the change must begin from the grass root.
There should be a positive attitudinal change towards blind people in our communities; confirming zero stigma, people should patronize visually impaired individuals who are into businesses, rich men should stop looking at blind people as beggars or elements of charity; but instead empower them with skills and educational scholarships for them to be self-reliant. Because they don’t beg at will and are packed with many hidden endowments from the Almighty.
Also, Bauchi state government should ensure the adherence to the 2018 disability right act, establish the Bauchi state disability commission, they should provide accessible buildings in schools, government organisations and other public places and also engage the PWDs in decision making, because there is an adage that says, “the person who wears a shoe, knows where the shoe pinches him the most.”
And there is an urgent need for the state government to provide the PWDs with educational scholarships, employments and political appointments among others.
It is quite disturbing that as big as this state is, there is not any person with special need that is holding a key position in this government irrespective of the many capable hand on ground.
The PWD community in Bauchi state will be immensely glad if Governor Bala Muhammad Abdulkadir will change this entire story and also emulate Prof. Umara Zulum of Borno state by restoring the monthly stipend given to persons with special needs in order to ease financial burdens. We know he can do it.
There are a lot of issues to be addressed, all hands must be on deck, and everyone must contribute his or her own part before we can have a disability friendly society.
Misheal Musa is a visually impaired student from the Department of Mass Communication, Abubakar Tatari Ali Polytechnic Bauchi
