Timilehin Olonisaye, a visually impaired man resident in Ibadan, Oyo State, has accused the West African Examination Council (WAEC) of subjecting him to degrading treatments after applying to work with them.

The Ibadan resident told FIJ that despite informing WAEC about his condition before he visited their office in Ibadan, they made no provision for him but dampened his spirit.

Olonisaye said that even after writing to the zonal coordinator of WAEC in Ibadan to create an avenue for him to take the exam, he got no response.

He stated that WAEC sent him a text to write an examination at the University of Ibadan on August 12 but did not put his special needs into consideration.

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“On August 18, I went to the Faculty of Technology at UI, where I got the rudest shock of my life. No one attended to me when I arrived at the venue, even though they promised to,” Olonisaye told FIJ.

“It took them an hour before they attended to me. And when they did, there was no provision for me. This is discriminatory enough because I made it clear while applying that I am a person with a disability.”

Olonisaye stated that he met one Mrs. Divine, a WAEC human resources officer, who informed him that there was no provision for people with disabilities at the headquarters.

According to Olonisaye, Mrs. Divine gave him two options upon seeing him: get someone to read out the questions while he answered them or write a letter to the zonal coordinator in Ibadan.

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“I declined the first option because the CBT timer would be against me. I just would not be able to meet up, so I went for the second option,” he said.

He said that he wrote a letter to the WAEC zonal coordinator in Ibadan, detailing his plight, but got no response.

He also said he wrote to the National Disability Commission but did not get a response.

“What happened at the centre that day? I left there embarrassed and undignified,” he said.

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When FIJ called WAEC in Ibadan via one of the numbers displayed on its website, a representative said she did not know if the organisation employs people with disabilities.

FIJ also attempted to reach the headquarters of WAEC in Nigeria, but none of the nine numbers on its website was available. At press time, text messages sent to WAEC had not been responded to.

In Nigeria, the Discrimination Against Persons with Disabilities (Prohibition) Act 2018 prohibits discrimination on the basis of disability and imposes sanctions, including fines and prison sentences, on those who contravene it.

Also, Section 34 of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria provides generally for the dignity of human beings, and this provision covers persons with disabilities.