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Employ Sign Language Interpreters, Foundation Urges Nigerian Banks

Published

6 months ago

May 21, 2025

A foundation, Sharing Education and Learning for Life (SELL), on Wednesday, called on all Nigerian banks to employ signs language interpreters across the country.

Mr Benji Benjamin, the Programme Manager of the foundation made the call in Bauchi during a one-day programme focused on policy discussions, compliance and awareness regarding inclusive services for Persons With Disability (PWD).

According to him, the move would greatly help and make banking services more accessible to people with disabilities especially, the hearing impaired individuals.

He explained that the one-day programme would add to the several conversations that were already ongoing on how to make communities, societies and infrastructures, whether public or private, more inclusive for everybody, including PWDs.

“At the end of the day, each and everyone of us that has been invited for this conversation will add to the discussions.

“It is expected that we leave here with a direction on how each and everyone of us will contribute to making our public and private spaces more inclusive for everybody,” he said.

Similarly, Mr Mainas Ayuba, from Bauchi State Network of Disability Forum, observed that there would always be people with impairments but it shouldn’t be seen as a barrier.

He recounted how someone complained bitterly about the non availability of sign language interpretation in banks as he had an issue with his account and was going to the bank without resolving the issue.

“Apart from not resolving the issue, they didn’t give him correct information, apart from not getting the right information, sometimes if he went there, he will be asked to sit down and they will forget about him.

“A lot of persons with disabilities who yearn to have bank accounts are resolving to opening online banking as they can’t go to the conventional banks because they are not getting well treated as expected.

“Sometimes, some services of banks are upstairs and someone who is on the wheelchair or crutches can’t go there and sometimes if they are told that there are customers downstairs, they won’t come down.

“They rather give them forms to fill and that’s how they will end up walking around in the bank with the form and usually, the person that is subjected to that rigour is the one who takes the customer to the bank,” he said.

He called on all and sundry to conceptualise disability as this would bring change in the way people see and treat persons with disabilities in their various environments.

Ayuba also called on institutions of learning to allow people on wheelchair to use their chairs while receiving lectures and writing examinations instead of taking them off their chairs to sit on desks.

Also, Malam Haruna Pali, Chairman, Joint National Association of Persons With Disabilities, expressed concern on how his people are being marginalised and denied inclusivity by some quarters.

Responding, Mr Morris Choji, a representative from Ecobank Nigeria Limited, Bauchi branch, said they learned a lot of things by coming to the programme.

He promised that when they assemble for the next bankers committee’s meeting, all the issues discussed would be tabled for them to be effectively addressed.

Other stakeholders present at the programme included a representative from Wema Bank, Ministry of Women Affairs and Child development, Civil Society Organisation, state’s Agency for Persons With Disabilities, among others.

Some of the participants in their separate remarks, also advocated for the full implementation of the Discrimination Against Persons With Disabilities Prohibition act, 2018.

News

Foundation Holds School Debate In Benin To Address Negative Narrative About Education

Published

1 hour ago

November 19, 2025

Editor

Osahon Enabulele Foundation, (DOEF), has given reason for organising interschool secondary schools debate in Edo State, saying it was “conceived to tackle the negative narrative surrounding the value of education among the younger generation.”

The Director—General of the foundation, Dr. Osahon Enabulele, stated this at the grand finale of the maiden edition of the debate held in Benin on Wednesday.

The competition, titled: “If education is a scam or not” was informed by the social-economic reality with students demonstrating impressive intellectual competition and depth.

Enabulele stressed that the debate was aimed at promoting intellectual development, encouraging civic engagement and public speaking, and fostering leadership qualities and critical thinking.

He added that the foundation, established nine months ago, was driven by strategic pillars that include leadership and governance, health, education, policy advocacy and social philanthropy.

According to him, many young people are becoming disillusioned by society’s “defective role modelling” and the “unfortunate reward for individuals with questionable sources of wealth,”

He said, “The debate is totally driven by the Foundation as a deliberate interventionist initiative that seeks to reverse the worrisome negative narrative about education, particularly amongst our upcoming generations, including our youths who are increasingly becoming victims of our society’s defective role modelling and unfortunate reward for individuals with very questionable sources of wealth, with leadership and societal positions. Our younger ones are truly becoming disillusioned as a result of these inanities.

“Some no longer think it is worthwhile to acquire education or task their brains in any way. This debate initiative is therefore our Foundation’s committed efforts to contribute to the reversal of this worrisome trend and mindset affliction.”

The interschool debate saw Eghosa Grammar School clinching the N1m star prize while other winners were also presented with a certificate of participation, books and other sundry items.

The outstanding speakers during the debate also went home with cash prizes ranging from N100,000 to N200, 000.

News

Trump’s Military Threat: ‘Poor Man Is Already A Sinner’ – Shehu Sani

Published

3 hours ago

November 19, 2025

Editor

Former lawmaker, Shehu Sani, has criticised United States President Donald Trump’s approach to global relations, alleging a double standard in the way he engages with different regions of the world.

In a statement posted on X on Wednesday, Sani said Trump had secured a trillion-dollar deal from Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and consistently defended the kingdom, while raising issues of human rights, terrorism and religious persecution only when dealing with African leaders.

According to him, no African, European or Latin American nation could offer Trump the kind of financial leverage that oil-rich Arab states provide.

Sani’s remarks come amid Trump’s recent threat of military action in Nigeria over allegations of Christian genocide.

The former lawmaker argued that in a materially driven world, “a poor man is already a sinner,” suggesting that economic power continues to shape international attitudes and interventions.

He wrote: “Mr Trump got a deal of a trillion dollar from Bin Salman and defended everything about Saudi Arabia. No African, European or Latin American country can give him that.

“When they are talking with oil rich Arab countries, issues of human rights, executions, terrorism and religion doesn’t come up, until they meet with African leaders and start asking them where they learned ‘how to speak English’. In a material World, a poor man is already a sinner.”

News

Why Nigerians Are Not Feeling Inflation Drop – Economists

Published

3 hours ago

November 19, 2025

Editor

Despite Nigeria recording its seventh consecutive month of disinflation, economists and financial analysts have raised concerns that the easing inflation trend has brought little or no relief to Nigerians and households already overwhelmed by high living costs and economic hardship.

The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) reported that headline inflation slowed to 16.05 per cent in October 2025, down from 18.02 per cent in September, one of the strongest single-month declines this year.

Food inflation also moderated to 13.12 per cent, compared to 16.9 per cent in the previous month.

But economists and analysts insist the improved figures do not reflect the economic reality facing millions of Nigerians.

The Chief Executive Officer of the Centre for the Promotion of Private Enterprise (CPPE), Dr Muda Yusuf, said the gains from the latest figures have not translated into real cost-of-living relief because price pressures remain elevated across essential sectors.

“Inflationary pressures remain elevated in critical household sectors—including food, transportation, housing, utilities, education, and health—which jointly account for 84 percent of inflation,” Yusuf noted.

He attributed the limited impact of disinflation to persistent structural challenges such as high logistics costs, energy constraints, insecurity in food-producing regions and climate-related disruptions that continue to suppress supply.

According to him, “the full welfare benefits are yet to be sufficiently felt by households due to persistent structural constraints.”

Yusuf advised that deeper and sustained reforms across key sectors—supported by coordinated monetary, fiscal and structural policies—are necessary to turn statistical improvements into real economic progress.

‘NBS Inflation Figures Are Flawed’ — Former CIBN President, Okechukwu

In an interview with DAILY POST, Mazi Okechukwu Unegbu, former President of the Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria (CIBN), said the October inflation report is detached from the real-life experience of Nigerians.

Unegbu insisted the country’s true inflation rate is significantly higher than official figures suggest.

“The inflation figure by the National Bureau of Statistics is flawed because it does not reflect reality. In real terms, the country’s inflation is as high as 29 percent,” he said.

He argued that the persistent rise in the cost of food, rent, transportation, fuel, and other essentials shows that the declining inflation rate “does not make sense” to the average Nigerian.

Why Nigerians Still Feel No Relief — Oyedokun

An economist and a university don, Prof Godwin Oyedokun, said most Nigerians feel no impact from the inflation slowdown because the structural drivers of the cost-of-living crisis remain intact.

He outlined six reasons why Nigerians are yet to feel the impact of inflation: “Prices are still rising— just more slowly- A drop in inflation does not mean prices are falling. Nigerians are still paying historically high amounts for food, transport, energy and rent.

“Incomes remain stagnant- Wages, pensions and SME earnings have failed to keep up with inflation for two years, weakening purchasing power.

“Key cost drivers remain unresolved- Exchange-rate volatility, high energy costs, logistics inefficiencies, insecurity in food belts and elevated interest rates continue to fuel price increases.

Inflation expectations are still high- Businesses expect prices to rise further and therefore adjust prices upward in advance.

“State-to-state variations distort relief- Some states still record much higher food and transportation inflation than the national average.

“Poverty levels overshadow economic data- With high unemployment and widespread poverty, even a slowdown in inflation does little to improve household welfare.”

Prof. Oyedokun concluded that “Nigerians have yet to feel any relief because the level of prices— not just the rate of change— remains painfully high, and the structural conditions driving hardship persist.”