“I was denied admission into a university due to my disability” – Physically challenged lady shares success story

A physically challenged pharmacist, identified on Facebook as Blessing Mary Ocheido shares how she was denied the opportunity to study in a Nigerian university despite her outstanding performance in the interview.

Today, the lady is a United Nations Youth Steering Committee member on Beijing+25, an Enterprise for Peace Scholar and a 2021 One Young World Ambassador. Her successes have also garnered numerous awards for her over the years.

Sharing her story, she wrote:

“In 2008, I applied to study pharmacy at Madonna University and I was turned down owing to my disability despite my stellar performance at the interview,” she wrote.

“They told my mum (whom I went with) that being mobility challenged, I will not be able to participate in their compulsory Saturday morning exercises so there was no place for me at the institution.

“I remember when we left and how my mum cried her eyes out and told me not to worry. That I was too good for them. Anyway, I eventually got my pharmacy degree from Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria.

“Even then, there were people who did not want me to graduate as they simply didn’t see why I, as a person with disability, will dare to aspire to a prestigious course like pharmacy. Why not Home Economics or simply sit at home and be at the mercy of my family members’ kindness

“Why did I even dream of financial independence as a girl on a wheelchair? Omo, I don suffer for this Naija sha. But seriously though, why are most Nigerian institutions so discriminatory against persons with disabilty.”

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