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EMMANUEL OJlLE ess than a third of a century ago, deaf people in Nigeria had almost no opportunities for advancement. Schools for deaf students did not exist, and no services were available for deaf people. But today, thanks to both missionary and government efforts, Nigeria has forty-three schools with deaf students enrolled. All use sign language and share the philosophy of Total Communication. Postsecondary educational opportunities also are beginning to open up to deaf individuals. The earliest efforts to establish schools for deaf students-beginning in 1958 and continuing until 1975-were made primarily by various missionaries and humanitarians . It was not until after 1975 that the various state governments in Nigeria recognized the necessity of establishing schools for deaf students and others with disabilities. Deaf Schools in Nigeria: 1958-1975 The oldest school for deaf students in Nigeria, the Wesley School for the Deaf in Surulere, Lagos, was established in 1958 by the Lagos Society for the Care of the Deaf. The school, which is still in operation, is run by a board of management sponsored by the Wesley Methodist mission with support from the state government of Lagos and the federal government of Nigeria. In 1968, a nursery school for deaf children, which serves as a feeder for the Wesley School, was started in Lagos by the same group. In 1958, the Anglican mission opened the Oji River School for disabled students at its rehabilitation center in the state of Anambra. The school had an initial enrollment of eleven children and was used as a practice teaching site by teachers who were being trained at the mission. It was closed on a temporary basis in 1967 in the wake of the Nigerian civil war, during which the school facilities were damaged. When the school re-opened after the war, it admitted children from seven to ten years of age and was under the firm hand of the east central state government of Nigeria. Students who passed the primary school exit examinations, conducted by the state government, were admitted to vocational training. As of 1985, 125 deaf pupils were enrolled, with several on the waiting list. During the 1960s, the work of the late Rev. Andrew Foster-the first black graduate Education of the Deaf in Nigeria of Gallaudet University-was instrumental in expanding deaf education in Nigeria. Before the 1960s, Dr. Foster was based in Ghana, West Africa, and had established a school for deaf students there. From Ghana, Foster traveled extensively in Nigeria, where he identified deaf individuals and sent them to complete a certificate course at his school for deaf students in Ghana. When these men returned to Nigeria, they were often sent to one of the schools opened there by Foster, where they served as administrators, teachers, and office workers. Foster opened missionary schools for deaf students in Kaduna in northern Nigeria, Enugu in eastern Nigeria, and Ibadan in western Nigeria. The school in Kaduna no longer exists. The Ibadan school, opened in 1960, was originally housed in a rented building and later moved to its permanent quarters. This school grew from an enrollment of about eighty deaf pupils in 1972 to about 300 students . Most of its graduates went on to learn trades at nearby vocational training centers. The Ibadan school was later merged with what is now the Ibadan School for the Deaf. The Enugu missionary school, established in 1962, was merged with classes for deaf students begun by the Enugu municipal council in 1964. The school was closed in 1967 because of the Nigerian civil war. In 1976 it was taken over by the state, and various organizations, including Foster's mission, helped restore the losses the school suffered during the war. In 1977, it became a residential site, with an enrollment of thirty children and a waiting list of forty-five others. After 1977, little was heard about the school. It is speculated that its students may have been merged with two other state-run schools in Anambra, a state in east-central Nigeria. Even though Foster did not succeed in establishing a permanent school for deaf students in Nigeria, he must be remembered for his early efforts in starting such schools. Moreover, he was instrumental in the education of deaf Nigerian pioneers who have either started state deaf schools or have been involved in helping others start schools for deaf students. The Ibadan School for the Deaf was founded in 1964 through the efforts of Mrs. Oyesola, an active...

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