A 31-year-old polio survivor identified as Gift Watchful has narrated the challenges she faced while growing up with this disability.
While speaking to the Punch Newspaper during an interview, Gift, who is a graduate of Nnamdi Azikiwe University, revealed that she wasn’t born with the disability but was diagnosed with polio at 5. She added that due to a lack of finances, her parents relied on traditional medicine and churches to curtail the disease. However, their efforts yielded little to no effect.
Speaking further on how she was bullied by her classmate, she said, “It was tough growing up. At school, some of my classmates used to snatch my walking stick, thereby leaving me stranded and unable to go home when I wanted to. Sometimes, when that happened, a teacher had to call my mother to come and carry me home because I had no means of going home on my own. She sometimes came to my school with another stick.”
She noted, “They did that just to punish me, and sometimes they bullied me. It wasn’t easy, but I thank God I pulled through. It has not been easy, especially in the area of discrimination and all that. As a person with a disability, when you attend a job interview, even when you know that you can do the job and are qualified, you don’t get the job. Also, being a female, men didn’t want to have anything to do with you. They just wanted to take advantage. I have three children, but the fathers do not take responsibility for them.”
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