In her third year, Bibi, a Chronic Kidney Disease patient, missed a compulsory practical examination due to complications with her chronic illness. Even though she informed the lecturer and performed well on the exam, she wasn’t allowed to retake it. “The lecturers said there’s nothing he can do and I had to retake the course the following year,” Bibi narrated with despair in her voice. “If you miss your test, you’ve missed it. If you’ve missed your exam, you retake it. If you miss class, there’s no provision for you,” she added sadly. Similar to Bibi, Lovette, a Sickle Cell warrior, has also missed several classes and tests due to “crazy pain”.
“UI is hard”, “Impromptu tests”, and “ TDB & MTN” are tunes every UITE knows. On the other hand, “these stairs are too much”, “UI is not inclusive”, and “I miss a lot of classes without cover” are only known by a few students, like Bibi. The students who, beyond the academic stress UI serves everyone, bear the brunt of a system that is not inclusive of them; disabled students.
Disability services at the University of Ibadan are commonly associated with the Department of Special Education. However, amongst the thousands of students across 17 faculties and 98 departments, some students are visibly disabled (blind students and walking aid users) and invisibly disabled by chronic illnesses like Fibromyalgia, Sickle Cell Disease, Arthritis, Chronic Kidney Disease, and Lupus, amongst others.
On average, the life of a UI student is often characterised by 7-7classes, impromptu tests, fluctuating electricity, especially during exams, scary lecturers, amongst others. In addition to these regular but taxing demands of the degree, disabled students also have to navigate non-inclusive infrastructures, insensitive individuals, and a system that always excludes them.
Infrastructure and the stair gap
“Stairs are the weapon fashioned against my joints,” Teekay, an arthritis patient, would always say as she climbs the several flights of stairs that lead to the several important buildings in the school. Several buildings in the University of Ibadan lack ramps that ease student walking. In the premier faculty, “there is only one ramp”, lamented Didi, a student with bowed legs.
The first and best university in Nigeria was founded in 1948 which means a lot of the buildings are older than both students, lecturers, and current administrations. However, over the years, new buildings have been built, and there is little to no difference, making attending classes and being in school a chore for these students.
“It’s painful moving from one class to another because of the staircase. I don’t go to my departmental library for the same reason. I’m yet to complete my registrations too because there is a lot of queueing, standing, and stair climbing involved,” Didi explained bitterly.
“When disabled students gain admission, there is an arrangement for them to get hostels that are closer to school areas”, Covenant Odedele, the student union president, explained. As a means of inclusivity, the University also ensures that students with proven ailments stay on the ground floor of their respective hostels.
However, the room is still the only accessible part of the arrangement. “The block that is supposed to be accessible for people with health issues, is still not so accommodating. The area where we fetch water and spread clothes is not convenient for people like me,” said Bolu, a blind student who uses a walking aid.
Lovette echoed a similar sentiment, “accommodation should be prioritised for people like us. Good accommodation. I stayed in a school hostel in level 100, and it was ridiculous for someone who has sickle cell. Having to fetch water, bad windows and others.”
Healthcare and the Jaja nightmare
Jaja; a noun that means loooonnnggg waiting hours, combatant staffs, and stress to UItes.
The University Health Service(UHS), popularly called Jaja because of its location on Jaja Road, is both a blessing and a nightmare to University of Ibadan students. Over the years, students have constantly complained about the shortcomings of this critical amenity in the university. It wasn’t until 2023, during the Host-led administration, that a specific attending time was reserved for Uites.
While the swift response of the emergency wards of the health service is usually praised, the long wait in the day-to-day clinic is not so encouraging. For regular Uites, this means that they often have to choose the comfort of their bed during low times over Jaja’s long wait. However, for disabled students whose day-to-day living is characterised by symptoms including pain, this also sometimes means choosing to rot in pain in bed over going to the clinic.
This decision sometimes comes from the dilemma of “what kind of doctor would I meet today?”. At the University Health Service, doctors take shifts. This means if a student were to meet a doctor once a month for three months, the probability of meeting the same doctor twice is slim. This system is detrimental to disabled and chronically ill students, who need consistency in treatments, especially during the diagnostic process.
“One of the issues I experienced at Jaja is seeing a new doctor every time. I have had to change drugs many times because one doctor would ask me to take a drug, and the next doctor I see would give me another,” Bibi explained what it took her to get diagnosed.
Similarly, Teekay shared that she was treated for Malaria five times in two months at Jaja due to seeing different doctors every time before she was referred to a specialist at the University College Hospital (UCH) by an external doctor. This inconsistency in consultation has led to a delay in diagnosis for students like Bibi and Teekay, who were later diagnosed with chronic conditions by specialists.
The Exclusionary Minds
“You’ve joined a bad company”, “Do you have cancer?”, and “You were not like this”.
These are the comments that trailed Bibi, a Muslim, when she removed her scarf and donned her hair bare. Bibi was experiencing side effects from a new drug that caused her scalp to itch and her hair to fall out. She had to take off her scarf and cut her hair to mitigate the itchiness. In addition to the courage it took Bibi to change, she had to add another layer of thick skin to endure unsolicited comments from her colleagues.
“Of course, it is concerning when someone who covers their hair has now opened it, but don’t jump to a conclusion. When I was asked if cancer made me go bald, I laughed it off and made jokes about hair being expensive. But I was shocked and pained, and didn’t want to explain myself to people,” Bibi narrated painfully.
Beyond the inaccessible infrastructure and social amenities in the school, disabled students also bear the brunt of the exclusive minds of their fellow students. These exclusive minds are often showcased in the form of probing questions, unsolicited comments on appearance, and uncomfortable stares amongst others.
“We eat discrimination every day,” Lovette shared her experience as a sickle cell warrior. “Especially from the opposite gender,” she added. In the same vein, Teekay shivered under the weight of people’s comments. “The side effect of one of my routine drugs was weight gain. Then, different people, especially classmates that I was not close to, made comments about my weight and it almost affected my self-esteem”, she explained.
For Bolu who depends on a walking aid, she often experiences uncomfortable stares from people. She doesn’t go out as much partially because of her visual impairment. “I wouldn’t want to go somewhere where I’m the centre of attention. People have this habit of staring and it pisses me off.
As with students, these disabled students have equally experienced care and stigma alike from lecturers. For Bolu, Didi and Lovette, their lecturers have been receptive and compassionate with them, especially during trying times. “I had an oral test and the lecturer’s office is on the last floor of a four-storey building. The lecturer came down to meet me instead”, Didi said.
On the flip side, Teekay and Bibi have experienced the bitter side of the student-lecturer interaction. “In my second year, I missed a lot of classes and tests due to medical reasons. But one of the lecturers didn’t do a makeup test for me. I later carried the course”, Teekay explained painfully.
What disabled students want
To include disabled students in plans, you first have to think of them as existent. To make the University inclusive of disabled students, it is important to know what is currently lacking.
“I don’t think the school is even aware they have students like that, because if they do, they would have done better. The University claims to be where people learn and are taken care of. But our departments and hostels are nothing to write home about,” Bolu said angrily.
In developed nations, and some developing countries, there is a tag assigned to individuals with medical conditions such that at transport stations and during emergencies, they can easily be identified. “Students with chronic conditions shouldn’t be standing long for Keke. There should be a tag on their ID card so they can be attended to promptly,” Lovette said.
For Lovette, she also wishes there were a regularly updated database of students with disabilities. “I didn’t have mobility issues at the 100 level, but now I have them.”
Another important need is a board or association that can advocate for these students. While there is a student union, the needs of disabled students are not adequately represented. “There is no board that you can meet if anything happens that can rise up for you”, Bolu said.
Contrary to the experiences of these students, the student union president, Covenant Odedele, believes that “UI is largely disability inclusive” stating that “ there is a level of acceptance and inclusion in terms of University policies and even how they allow them to interact and engage with both academic and non-academic engagement”.
However, he also agreed that there are a lot more things to be done. “There is a disability policy that is being finalised and should commence next session. Also, except for old buildings, new buildings in the school are now built with disability consideration”, Covenant explained.
In the end, until the University is redesigned with disability inclusive structures, inclusion options for lectures, and a compact healthcare system, disability inclusion will remain a myth. And until then, disabled students continue to carry the weight of a university that has not learned how to carry them.
