Blindness is no barrier to excellence, says best visually impaired WASSCE candidate

On Thursday, 21 November, Iforulimre Opu was assisted to the rostrum at the conference hall of the National Teachers’ Institute (NTI), Kaduna, the venue of the 62nd Annual Meeting of the Nigeria National Committee (NNC) of the West African Examinations Council (WAEC).

The 19-year-old was honoured as Nigeria’s best male visually impaired candidate in the 2023 May/June West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE).

The winner of the female category, 18-year-old Fiyinfoluwa Banjo, could not make it to the venue because “doctors said she could not fly.” She was represented by her mother, Gbemisola Banjo, a lawyer and mother of two.

The stories of these two persons with disabilities were as touching as inspiring, even as many guests who had graced the occasion, including the Kaduna State Deputy Governor, Hadiza Balarabe, and the Head of Nigeria’s Office of WAEC, Amos Dangut, among others, hailed them for the uncommon feats they recorded.

There were other categories of winners, including the overall best candidate in the examination and the runners-up and the categories of best male and female candidates from public schools, even as cash awards running to millions of naira were also presented to schools that produced the brilliant candidates.

Opu’s journey into blindness

Master Iforulimre Opu was already in junior secondary school III when “suddenly he could not see again.” There were no prior signs, said his uncle, Ite Opu, a police officer, who works in Asaba, Delta State.

According to the uncle, the attack was too sudden and defied all medical interventions.

“When the incident happened, we took him to different hospitals, including the biggest one in Calabar, but nothing changed. It was just too sudden. He didn’t have an accident and no illness. They asked us if we had any history of blindness in our family but none. All efforts of the medical experts proved abortive, so we took our destiny by our own hands,” Mr Opu told PREMIUM TIMES.

He said his nephew’s father, Ibonsi Opu, a peasant farmer in Cross River State, had resigned to fate, “because he didn’t know what to do and he kept the boy at home, watching over him.”

He said: “I’m a police officer, and one day when I came back home, I met Iforulimre sitting helplessly. I simply told my brother that we must enrol him in a school for the blind.

“I took up the responsibility to train him. He was enrolled in Primary 5 at Saint Joseph School for the Blind in Obudu, Cross River State, and later proceeded to the Federal College of Education Demonstration Secondary School, Obudu, an inclusive school, where he did very well. To the glory of God, there has been no regret.”

Blind at birth

Unlike the young Opu, Fiyinfoluwa Banjo was blind at birth. According to her mother, she only noticed that her daughter couldn’t open her eyes at birth, and all medical interventions, including a series of surgical operations, were to no avail.

And Unlike Master Opu’s parents who enrolled him at a school for the blind, Fiyinfoluwa’s mother, Gbemisola Banjo, said she opted for inclusive schools for her daughter to address the concern about an issue of complex.

Thus, from Smallville Montessori School located at Omole Estate in Lagos to Estaport Schools in Gbagada, Queens College, Yaba, and eventually Starfield College, Fagba area of Lagos, Ms Banjo kept changing her daughter’s school to offer her quality education.

At the ceremony, she said looking back, the troubles were worth it.

Worthy support for Opu

Named Sylvester after his police uncle, the young Opu’s condition further strengthened the bond between him and his uncle.

According to him, the special interest, support and encouragement received from his uncle and other family members, particularly his parents, emboldened him to dare what could have seemed impossible.

He said right from the time he was enrolled in school, the family provided him with the needed materials, and that both the teachers and management of the schools he attended also treated him fairly.

“Yes, the materials to study were always available for me. I didn’t lack anything,” he said.

However, while sitting at the WAASCE in 2023, the young Opu said, “The questions were in braille, some were not in braille, and it was very difficult to get instructors to read it for us.”

“Even when others wanted to attend to us, it would be whenever they were done with their own,” he said, noting that the situation affected his performance in the examination.

Brilliant results

Despite the challenges, Mr Opu recorded A1 in Government and Economics, B2 in Civic Education and Tourism, B3 in English Language, and C4 and C5 in Biology and General Mathematics, respectively. He recorded a total T-score of 417.9785 to be ranked the best male candidate with visual impairment in the examination.

On her part, Fiyinfoluwa secured four distinctions, B2 in two subjects, and C4 in one subject, securing a total T-score of 479.3546 to earn her the overall best female candidate with visual impairment.

While the young Opu scored 250 in the 2024 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) and is awaiting admission to study Law at the University of Calabar, Fiyinfoluwa already secured admission to study Software Engineering at the Anglia Ruskin Univerity in the United Kingdom but is yet to secure the required scholarship to pursue her dream.

Speaking on his success story, Master Opu said he believes that there is ability in disability and that what is important is the determination to succeed.

“Blindness is not a barrier to excellence; it is merely a physical challenge and a challenge that can bring out the best in you. What I can say is that blindness is not a disease; it is merely a physical challenge, and all that is needed to overcome the challenge is acquiring knowledge to become a valuable person in society,” he said.

The principal of the Federal College of Education Demonstration Secondary School, Obudu, Coker Ismaila, who also accompanied the young Opu to Kaduna for the award, praised him for doing the school proud.

Uncle speaks

Mr Opu, the police officer, said he was excited and thrilled by his nephew’s achievement.

“My message to other parents is that they should not abandon their children to issues of this nature. There is ability in disability. Despite his condition, he made us proud.”

Other awardees

Meanwhile, 18-year-old Orevaoghene Whiskey of Topfaith International Secondary School, Akwa Ibom, emerged as the best overall student in the examination, securing 9As, with a total T-score of 628.3248.

Ms Orevaoghene, whose mother is a public school teacher in Delta State, is currently studying Medicine and Surgery at the University of Port Harcourt, Rivers State.

Chima Okafor of St Paul’s Academy, Jos, Plateau State, who earned 8As and a total T-score of 605.4081, and now studying Medicine and Surgery at Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka, Anambra State, was the first runner-up, while 17-year-old Jessica Alinnor of Loyola Jesuit College, Wuse, Abuja, was second runner-up with 8As and a total T-score of 601.9246.

Ms Alinor, who scored 345 in the 2024 UTME, is currently studying Biochemistry and Molecular Biology on scholarship at Fisk University, Tennessee, United States of America.

Deputy governor’s remarks

Representing the Kaduna State Governor, Uba Sani, the state’s Deputy Governor, Hadiza Balarabe, thanked the WAEC management for hosting the event in the state, saying the decision aligns with the government’s importance placed on education.

“This is reflected in the allocation of 24 per cent of the 2024 budget to education,” she said.

Mrs Balarabe, however, raised concern over the challenges posed by examination malpractice and urged WAEC to tackle the menace.

“I urge the committee and WAEC management to continue devising effective strategies to eliminate this challenge. On our part, we remain committed to improving the learning environment in our schools and encouraging greater parental involvement in their children’s education so that our young ones can be properly guided,” she said.

The deputy governor also revealed that the state already approved about 7,500 square metres of land for WAEC’s construction of a computer-based test centre.

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WAEC HNO, committee chair speak

In his remark at the ceremony, the Head of the WAEC office in Nigeria, Mr Dangut, said as the foremost examination body in Africa, WAEC was proud of the awardees and the schools they represented, urging parents and other stakeholders to join hands in reclaiming the glory in the country’s education sector.

Also speaking, the chairman of the Nigeria National Committee and Director of the Basic and Secondary Education Committee at the Federal Ministry of Education, Binta Abdulkadir, said WAEC has introduced numerous measures to ensure the smooth conduct of its examination.

Mrs Abdulkadir, who left the event to attend to a matter in Abuja before it commenced, had her speech read on her behalf. Musa Muhammed thanked everyone for making the meeting a success and pledged the commitment of the committee to support the drive for quality education.