Ruth Semilore
READ ALSO:Police reveals how PA, driver killed popular caterer in Ondo (READ FULL DETAILS)
Dr Stella Iwuagwu, was hale and hearty when she returned to Nigeria in 2007, to work on her PhD desertion. Sadly, she went back to the United States on a wheelchair.
The mother of two, who was pursuing her PhD degree in the United States was involved in an accident that confined her to a wheelchair for almost 17 years.
Iwuagwu said she was travelling to Kano from Abuja, when the accident occurred. Their vehicle suddenly went out of control and skidded off the road in Zaria. Following the accident, she sustained a spinal cord injury that has left her permanently on a wheelchair.
A PhD holder in Health Education, Iwuagwu is also a nurse/midwife and the Executive Director at the Centre to the Right for Health. She has not allowed her present condition to cloud her ambition to excel in her chosen career.
Iwuagwu was among the distinguished personalities honoured at the maiden edition of Imo International Film festival, for her immense contribution to the development of humanity.
Apart from being a public health specialist, Iwuagwu is also a farmer and a teacher. She has strong passion for filmmaking, following her belief in using film for behavioural change and for educating the public about critical health and development situations.
READ ALSO:Table tennis legend, Chief Ekun, calls for greater support for non-football sports in Nigeria
She has been using films and documentaries to advocate the right to life of persons with disabilities.
Recently, she premiered her latest movie, “Breaking the Silence,” in Owerri. The movie, she said, documented the experiences of gender-based violence among women with disabilities.
She also produced another documentary titled “Failed by Angels” which, she said, chronicled the challenges faced by people living with disabilities in terms of accessing healthcare in Nigeria. In addition, she produced a community play titled, “Imeogwa”, where she looked at unintended pregnancy among teenagers. She was also part of the production of a religious movie on AIDS among others.
After the completion of her PhD programme, Iwuagwu taught at the School of Health Sciences, Cleveland State University, Cleveland Ohio, for six years before returning to Nigeria to establish the Centre to the Right for Health. She has devoted her life to pursuing her goal of being a voice of the voiceless, advocating a better life and inclusion for people living with disabilities.
Sharing her story, the Imo State-born public health specialist, said, “I came home in September 2007, to work on my desertion. It was in the course of that visit that I got involved in an accident, where I sustained a spinal cord injury that left me in this condition.
For the past 17 years, my life has been confined to the wheelchair. The accident happened while I was working on my PhD, and still running my NGO back home”. Having accepted life on her wheelchair, Dr Iwuagwu encourages other people saying, “where there’s a wheel, there’s a way!”
According to her, the accident occurred, while she had about six months to complete her doctorate degree. But Iwuagwu was not discouraged, as she went on to complete her programme despite her predicament. “I was not discouraged at all. It only took me an additional two years instead of six months to complete my PhD programme,” the public health specialist added.
On how she has been coping with her life-changing condition, Iwuagwu said it has not been easy for her. “I have to depend on others to assist me in certain things. The other day, I visited the Ministry of Health, somebody had to put me on the back to climb the two-storey building. Also, when I visited the National Health Insurance Scheme, in Abuja, the Director of the organization had to come downstairs to see me because his office was not accessible to me. If you go to the hotels and other public spaces, there’s no provision of accessibility for persons with disabilities,’ Iwuagwu said.
READ ALSO:Tragedy as 3 Dead, Others Injured in Accident on Lagos-Ibadan Expressway
Lamenting the challenges faced by people living with disabilities in Nigeria, which include their inability to access public facilities and how people discriminate against them, Iwagwu said there are a lot of things to be done to enable people living with disabilities to live a life of dignity and fitness.
According to her, “This is because people living with disabilities have a lot of things to offer for the development of the nation. If there’s no accessibility of public spaces, no accommodation, you find out that disabled persons are not living a fulfilled life and they will not be contributing to national development. They are also seen as a burden to the nation, and that need not be,” she lamented.
Talking about the sexuality of those living with disabilities, Iwuagwu said they enjoy full sexual and reproductive life, as they have children, get married and do very well in their respective homes.
