Low Vision in Nigeria: Independence Day for the Blind and Visually Impaired

The purpose of my research project is to inform the blind and visually impaired community, in the US and abroad, about services and devices available to help them maintain or establish their independence and to inform members of the sighted, professional, and academic communities of the technological advances and low vision devices available to ensure that the blind and visually impaired are success in any arena they choose.

Background: Nigeria

Nigeria was once colonized by Britain so the British are viewed negatively. Americans, on the other hand, are not viewed negatively or positively for that matter. Overall, Nigerians are accepting of foreigners, but the expected suspicions about strangers are still present. Nigeria has a male dominated society. The woman plays the subservient role in society. Also, the parents have high expectations of their children and expect them to obey until the children get married.

The family structure is much like a Hispanic culture where an extended family is common. Nigeria is located in Western Africa, bordering the Gulf of Guinea between Benin and Cameroon. Prevalent Religions - 50% Muslim, 40% Christian, 10% indigenous beliefs Prevalent Ethnic Groups - Hausa, Fulani, Yoruba, Igbo, and Ijaw Prevalent Languages - English (official) or Pidgin English, Hausa, Yoruba, Igbo, and Fulani About 45% of the Nigerian population is below the poverty line.

Most Nigerian families are patriarchal and rights of inheritance are traced through the male members of the family. Extended families, in which parents, children, their spouses, grandchildren and other relatives live under one roof, are common in rural areas. Family relationships are guided by a strict system of seniority. The freedom to use first names is given only to seniors and superiors. It is an insult to call an elder sibling by his or her first name. Although the extended family system is changing, a tradition of mutual caring and responsibility is very strong in Nigerian family life.

Relationships in which a man has more than one wife are accepted by most ethnic groups in Nigeria. This practice is changing because of westernization and the spread of Christianity. In urban areas, more and more people select their own partners and marriages across ethnic groups are becoming more common. Divorce is also increasingly common in urban areas. Children are very important to Nigerian families. Parents believe that children will provide support for them in their old age.

In most families, women carry out all the household tasks, sometimes with the help of relatives or servants. The typical Nigerian husband does not have household duties. There are great differences between the lifestyles of the rich and the poor, and between rural and urban families. In rural areas the traditional practice of caring for the elderly by their children, grandchildren, spouses, siblings or even ex-spouses is strong, but in the urban areas, under conditions of hardship, this tradition is beginning to change.

The Yoruba people are one of the two largest ethnic groups of Nigeria, being concentrated in the southwestern part of that country. Much smaller, scattered groups live in Benin and northern Togo. The Yoruba numbered more than 24 million in the late 20th century. people of SW Nigeria and Benin, numbering about 20 million. The Yoruba are unusual in Africa in their tendency to form urban communities.

Today many of the large cities in Nigeria are in Yorubaland. The old Yoruba kingdom of Oyo was traditionally one of the largest states of W Africa. It dominated both Benin and Dahomey, but after 1700 its power slowly waned. At the beginning of the 19th cent., Fulani invasions, slave raids from Dahomey, and the growing contact with Europeans divided the Yoruba into a number of small states.

In the second half of the 19th cent. the Yoruba gradually fell under British control, and they were under direct British administration from 1893 until 1960. Yoruba religion includes a variety of gods. Vestiges of Yoruba culture are also found in Brazil and Cuba, where Yoruba were imported as slaves.

Traditional healers (sometimes called "surgeons") in Nigeria often focus on maintaining a balance between the invisible world of the deities, ancestral spirits of good or evil, and other beings inhabiting the "other" world. Spirit causation remains a significant part of the traditional medical system, and the presence of disease or illness may be seen as a warning sign that there is an imbalance with either the natural or the spirit world.

There are estimated to be about one million blind people in Nigeria, as well as 3 million who are visually impaired. There are estimated to be about one million blind people in Nigeria, as well as 3 million who are visually impaired. An additional global problem is that of low vision, which affects a huge number of people in the developing world. Although not categorically blind, people with extreme loss of vision suffer from severe visual impairment which can have a serious impact upon their their lives.