In Nigeria, a nation that takes pride in its expanding digital economy and the prospect of a cashless society, the forgotten community of lepers languishes in the shadows.

As the country advances technologically, persons affected by leprosy are left behind, grappling for survival.

In this report, Gift Oba delves into the profound impact of this exclusion, exploring their daily struggles while they simultaneously battle the invisible barriers erected by a system that fails to recognize their existence.

In Ogun State, persons affected with leprosy face a devastating form of exclusion and no longer consider themselves indigenes of Nigeria due to their loss of fingers and inability to be captured on the National Identification Number (NIN)portal.

Jimoh Ahmed, a victim of leprosy and the Chairman of the Integrated Dignity Economic Advancement, an association that caters for persons affected with leprosy in Ogun State, revealed that some of their members were left out during the NIN registration process, resulting in their bank accounts flagged and telephone numbers disconnected.

Ahmed, in an interview with DAILY POST, lamented the untold suffering this has added to them.

“I would say people affected with leprosy are no longer Nigerians because whatever we want to do now, they ask for NIN.

“Most of our members do not even have fingers anymore and could not be captured in the NIN office.

“Some of them that have money in the bank cannot collect it because they have flagged their accounts and the banks are always requesting for NIN,” he said.

The National Identification Number, NIN, was introduced in Nigeria in 2012 by the National Identity Management Commission, NIMC,. The NIMC was established in 2010 by the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) Act, 2007 to create, operate and manage Nigeria’s national identity card database, integrate the existing identity database in government institutions, register individuals and legal residents, assign a unique national identification number and introduce general multi-purpose cards.

This document, essential for accessing basic services like healthcare, banking, and even voting, remains elusive and effectively erases lepers from the very fabric of society.

We Find It Hard To Feed – Patients

The majority of Ogun State’s lepers who reside in the colony and neighbouring villages have bemoaned the hardships they face trying to provide for themselves.

The state has two colonies, one located in the Iberekodo area of Abeokuta and the other in Ijebu Igbo, yet these persons struggle to survive.

Ahmed stressed that they most times have to rely on the N10,000 naira stipends given to them by the state government, emphasising the need to reintegrate into society, particularly as the nation’s economic difficulties worsen.

He disclosed that their major occupation in the colony was farming but due to land encroachment, they are now left with nothing.

Ahmed said, “Even those still residing in the community, the heartache is too much for them. For them to eat is hard.

“The government is giving some stipends which is N10,000. It increased from N3,000 to N10,000 in 2013. From 1999 when Governor Osoba was there, he increased the money from N500 to N1500.

“In 2003, precisely on May 27, 2003, before Governor Daniel entered office, he visited the colony that day; they increased the money from N1500 to N3000 and from N3000 till 2013 before Governor Ibikunle Amosun increased it to N10,000.”

While appreciating the government for its palliative during the festive period,he begged them to look into increasing their stipends.

“We have been appealing to the government, the present Governor Dapo Abiodun for the increment, just to review the money because the hardship is too much now.

“We are over a hundred persons; some stay in the colony, and other members are still in the community area because we’ve been trying to let the people know that we want to integrate them into the community, and we’re doing it.

“In that community, the first job we do is farming but due to the encroachment of the land, there’s no opportunity for that.

“That is why we’re only appealing to some members to diversify in their own business.

“We’re trying to let them know that they can’t do only farming but there’s no money for us to establish the business.”

“Don’t Enter My Cab” – Ogun drivers to lepers

Despite the country’s advancement, DAILY POST gathered that in Ogun state, transportation has been a major challenge for these persons.

Ahmed, while stressing that the majority of drivers in the state do not want to carry them, said, “Whenever we want to enter a car, when they see our hand or leg, they’ll say ‘don’t come in.’”

Regarding schooling, he also bemoaned the fact that some who had enrolled had been forced to drop out because they couldn’t handle the humiliation and shame of discrimination.

While Section 17(1), (2), 42(1) of the Nigerian Constitution guarantees equal rights for all Nigerians, lepers, however, have been forced to live on the fringes with their voices silenced and their struggles ignored.

We Can Enroll Them Without Fingerprints – NIMC

When contacted by DAILY POST, the Head of the Corporate Communication Unit, NIMC, Kayode Adegoke, said the NIN enrollment can accommodate persons affected by leprosy.

Adegoke insisted that no one is discriminated against by the commission, emphasizing that even in several Northern states, everyone had registered.

He said, “We don’t neglect anyone; we have never deferred anyone. Even in some states in the Northern part of Nigeria, we registered everybody.

“They go to our centres or if they want us to bring the system to them, we can talk to any of our people, if they have centres like leper colony just like we did in Ondo and some other state, we can bring the system to them to register them there, yes we can do that.”

When asked if there was an alternative way to enroll them without the use of fingerprints, Adegoke said, “There are ways; if they don’t have fingers, what we do is that we take their pictures, send it and generate a NIN for them.

“We can enroll them. There is no need for a finger”, he added.