By Seun Sanni
LAGOS (Reuters) – Every Sunday, worshippers at Bethesda Home Church in Lagos sing and dance to popular hymns. But there’s a twist: the drummers, guitarists, keyboard player and choir are all visually impaired.
Although attitudes are changing, the roughly 25 million Nigerians living with disabilities still face stigma and discrimination stemming from misconceptions about the causes of disabilities, according the World Bank.
Fed up with seeing visually impaired people socially excluded in churches, Chioma Ohakwe set up Bethesda Home Church three years ago to nurture and celebrate the musicians’ talents, as well as providing a place of worship for a congregation many of whom also have sight issues.
“When (people) start seeing the ability in them, they will believe in them,” said Ohakwe, who runs an NGO for visually impaired people.
Wearing crisp white shirts and matching red ties, the band rouses the congregation with melodic exaltations and a crash of symbols.
In the front row of the choir stands Nathaniel Ndukwe, “Mr Blind Nigeria 2023”, with a shock of bleach-blond hair and sparkling gold shoes.
“Though the sight may not be there, our vision is still very much intact,” he said.
“I want anybody out there, as a visually impaired person or a disabled person, to have in his mind that there is a lot you can still do if you believe in yourself.”
Another of the singers, Ogungbe Abiola, said she wanted their music to help win hearts and minds, in a country where, according to the World Bank, unemployment rates among people with disabilities are almost double that of the general population.
“We can show the world that yes, there is truly ability in disability,” Abiola said.
(Reporting by Seun Sanni; Writing by Hereward Holland; Editing by Nellie Peyton and Alison Williams)
