Oluyemi Arowosola Michael is a Fact-checker with Cable Newspaper. He has his first degree in History and Diplomatic studies and a Master’s degree in History and Strategic Studies from the University of Lagos.
Despite being a person with a disability, he is a fact-checker, translator, and reporter.
In this interview with Peace Oladipo, he spoke about the challenges persons with disabilities face and the prospects for them in the media space
Congratulations on your new permanent job at Cable Newspaper. How did you land the job?
The good thing is I’ve been able to surmount the challenges. I’ve been able to overcome the problems. After I finished school, there was no job for like two or three years. So it was about two years after my graduation that I decided to do my Masters. And even after my Master’s I still couldn’t get a decent job. I was getting offers, but the pay was not good enough. So before joining Cable, I have done a couple of jobs here and there. I’ve worked as a content writer for a popular newspaper and worked as a tutor at a tutorial centre.
How did you start your journalism journey, since you have no background in the profession?
(smiles)Journalism actually, the media that you say happens to be one of the things I liked from day one. I planned to study Mass Communication. But unfortunately, I was not offered Mass communication. So I ended up choosing History and Diplomatic studies. And incidentally, I ended up graduating with a 2:1. I didn’t like the course in the first place. But one of my principles is this; wherever I find myself doing, I do it well. So when they offered me History and Diplomatic studies, I just told myself that, well, God, I think this is part of your plans for me. So I put in a good amount of effort, and I consistently had good grades. And when I graduated, since I already have an interest in journalism, I started looking for work in that area. I got a couple of offers, but they just did not work out. I continued to look for a role in journalism, or media.
Fortunately for me, I was engaged by the Cable.
If my memory serves me, I have been writing for the media since 2011. I used to write for a campus magazine. My first article was published in January 2011, in Punch newspaper. I worked with one or two online newspapers before joining Cable. I have about over 10 years of experience in writing fiction articles and opinion articles. I look at the national issue and just write about it.
What are the issues you write about?
hmmm ..national issues, governance, politics, issues that concern people, issues that have to do with the well-being of the people, the well-being of the common man? Those are some of the things I’ve been writing about.
Okay, let’s get a little bit personal, I notice that you have a physical disability.
How is this condition affecting your productivity, career, and life in general?
(smiles) It’s been a big factor. As far as my personal growth is concerned, when I was in university, it limited my movements. But because I have this considerable resilience or tenacity, I moved around, I went to libraries, I went to other places in schools, I attended lectures regularly, you know. But you see me, somebody in my condition, there’s a limit to some of the things you can do when it comes to mobility, or movements. But like I always tell myself, I need to move around regardless of my physical challenge. So I have been moving around.
One of the things that have worked for me over the years is my self-motivation skill. I motivate myself a lot. I tell myself that my physical disability is not going to be a limitation. Of course, there is limited movement. But, I don’t allow this to determine how much I can achieve mentally speaking, the problem I have is my limb. The problem is not with my brain, so I leveraged that, too. I push myself to succeed. However, in a way, the physical challenge limits some of the things that I could do.
You graduated years ago, do you think this particular challenge contributed to that many years of being unemployed?
(nods) I think so because some employers in Nigeria don’t look at a physically challenged person from the angle of mental ability. They think that if you have a physical disability, you won’t be able to do certain things.
Of course, there are some things that you won’t be able to do. But for somebody like me, I am blessed with a considerable amount of knowledge, wisdom, and intelligence. So there is a lot I can achieve when it comes to mental activities.
I have attended interviews where they assessed me based on my physical ability. Whereas what I have upstairs, what I have in my brain is very much more than what I can do physically. And I’m glad that I am engaged by Cable, my boss must have looked at me from the angle of mental ability, not physical ability.
I would like to suggest to employers, they should not look at people with physical disabilities, from the view of the challenge, that he or she is physically challenged and that will limit the amount of what he or she can do. I think what they should consider is mental ability. Because a lot of brilliant physically challenged people are out there, is an irony that I graduated with a 2:1 and three years after my graduating from the university, I was without a good job.
It took a lot of begging, travelling and persuasion before I could get what I can consider an average job. And I rejected offers because the pay wasn’t good. So if you consider a physically challenged from the angle of mental ability. It will take a lot of them away from the streets. And you’ll be surprised at how much they can deliver. If you give them the opportunity, you will see the capabilities or the abilities they have.
In your years in Journalism, have you noticed that there’s a place for people with disabilities, especially in Nigeria?
No data.
I don’t know. I remember when I was talking to an editor for a role. He said there was no role.
And I asked if there is nothing that physically challenged people can do in the media.
I know people like me can write and that doesn’t require you to move around. You can just sit, write a news report and submit it. We can correct or proofread. So, there are a lot of things physically challenged people can do.
I thought maybe there is no role for people like me, maybe the available roles require mobility. Not until I began to read, talk and interview other people in the media. I realized the different roles physically challenged people can do. Jobs that don’t even require moving around. Physically challenged people can work as writers, proofreaders, transcriptionists, translators, interpreters, graphic designers, or even fact-checkers like myself. There are many things a physically challenged person can do, even visually impaired people can read with the aid of Braille, which means that there are things that they can do when it comes to responsibilities in the media houses.
So, I was wondering why I could not be engaged because there are a lot of things I can do. Like, As I said I can proofread, fact-check and develop content.
Let’s talk about persons with disability inclusion in governance is beginning to receive attention in Nigeria, especially during this election. People with disabilities are not well represented, in every sector, especially in politics.
There is a very large population of persons with disability, I think the last time I checked, it was more than 20 million people, a major percentage of the entire population. So, these people will need representation, and no one can represent them better than themselves. What can you say about this?
The problem with Nigeria or with people in government or policymakers in Nigeria is that they don’t have a database of every group of people in the country and that makes it impossible for them to know for instance, the number of people living with disabilities, mental or physical. The same problem also applies to other groups of people in society, governments in Nigeria don’t know the exact number of our population, and that also makes it difficult for them to know the exact number of different groups of people that constitutes the population.
No accurate data on the physically challenged, elderly people, young people, youth, unemployed persons, and people of school age, so it’s difficult to plan. That is one of the problems when the second problem is this sociocultural problem. There’s this perception that people with disabilities or people living with disabilities do not have considerable abilities (mental and physical).
I always tell people that God compensated me for my disability by giving me a good brain. God blessed me with a good amount of intelligence, wisdom, and a good level of brilliance. We have something to deliver when it comes to Community Development; helping to improve lives and representing people who have the same challenge as myself.
The problem is social-cultural, the fact that governments don’t see people living with disabilities as people that have substantial abilities and should be given a place in governance.
Yet they are capable and should be considered when you’re making decisions when it comes to governance. Also, the meaningful impact they can have on society when given equal education and opportunities.
Tell us about your experience in the Cable Newspaper
I love working with Cable. I started working there last year,
My boss, Mr Simon Kolawole encourages us morally and financially. So there is room for career development and growth.
So when you are treated well, what will make you not like your job?
I do my job easily. Most times, I work from home and still deliver.
General Election 2023 has been held and there is a rise in disinformation and misinformation. What can you say about this as a fact-checker?
There is a good number of educated and quite enlightened people in Nigeria now. They have also created this sieve in their minds for information, for discernment.
The advent of the internet has birthed a large flow of information that may not be true.
Some platforms like ours provide credible reports and people should acquaint themselves with us.
Fact Checkers in Nigeria are working hard to fight misinformation, disinformation, and fake news by all means.
What is your advice to persons with disabilities?
Some of them have relegated themselves and believe they are up to no good.
Do something meaningful, it’s your life. If you have the mental capacity, go to school, strive, and do everything possible to get a good education. You will not need to fight to be noticed. I’m very sure you’ll be able to contribute positively. You’ll be able to convince people to say “despite being physically challenged possesses good brains.”
I am working on how my story will become an inspirational story to a lot of younger people, including people living with disabilities.
My advice to them is to also strive to make it and not allow anybody to push them to the ground or allow anybody to say, you cannot make it.
For every person living with a disability, there is something good, I mean, there is an ability that God has created in you.
All you just need is to identify and leverage it. Make good use of it.
For me, it’s my writing skill. And the ability to speak well, the ability to convince people, communicate well and think considerably. If you want to learn something, learn a vocation well. Be good at what you do. Whatever it is you are doing, do it well. Then you come back into society, and you can prove that, oh, I am living with a disability, but I am doing well.
And by doing so you become an inspiration to many other people living with disabilities.
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