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Breaking Barriers: How Bethesda Home for the Blind is Empowering Future Blind Lawyers
Sitting quietly in the lecture hall of the Nigerian Law School, Port Harcourt campus, are Emmanuel Ogolo and Precious Ezihe alongside hundreds of sighted mates. Dressed in the regular attire, the pair pay close attention as the voice of the lecturer breaks through the silenced hall. They capture every word not just with their ears, but with the help of digital recorders while their sighted mates move their pens speedily as they jot down key points in the lecture.
These are not just blind people learning in the hall alongside their non-blind counterparts. These are future blind lawyers whose journey through the university and up to the Nigerian Law School has been made possible by the Bethesda Home for the Blind’s education support for the blind.
About the Bethesda Scholarship for Law Students
The Bethesda scholarship programme for law students was initiated by the home more than 10 years ago to provide comprehensive support to blind students whose desire is to become lawyers of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. Unlike other scholarship programmes, this support programme ensures that the tuition fees and other associated costs are properly paid to the Nigerian Law School.
The programme provides general financial and moral support to enable the students navigate the difficult path.
Beyond School Fees
Beyond the payment of the school fees of Emmanuel Ogolo, Precious Ezihe, and three other blind law students in the Abuja campus of the Nigerian Law School, the home also provides monthly stipends to enable them meet other financial obligations in school.
Under the leadership of Dr. Mrs. Chioma Ohakwe, the students, before their departure from the home, were provided additional financial support to enable them take care of any unforeseen expenditure.
The students were not just allowed to hit the road; the home ensured that the students were provided the best means of transportation to their campuses.
Armed with Assistive Devices
Education for the blind comes with third-party devices that enable blind people to learn. These devices are powered to enable them read, write, and record. They make learning quite easy for the blind, affording them the opportunity to compete favourably with their sighted counterparts.
These devices are imported, making the cost astronomically high. The home ensured that each student was equipped with the necessary devices to ease their studies.
From screen reader-enabled brand-new laptop computers, digital recorders, smartphones, to mobility canes to ease their movements on campus, Bethesda left nothing undone in ensuring that these students were equipped for success.
Equipped for Comfort and Confidence
These students were provided beverages, clothing, shoes, and personal effects to boost their confidence and ensure that they focus on their studies.
It is no news that the Nigerian Law School does not allow students to prepare their own meals as these students had been doing during their undergraduate studies. This is why the home ensured that beyond tuition fees, other important aspects of their lives in school were given maximum attention.
Indeed, this is beyond scholarship. It is the Bethesda Home for the Blind’s comprehensive support programme for blind law students.
Voices of Gratitude
As the students receive these items, they struggle with words to describe their happiness as what seemed daunting at the beginning has been made easy courtesy of the home.
Precious Ezihe, a law graduate of Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka, looks forward to what the future holds for her. “If I say I have the right words to express my appreciation to Bethesda Home, it means I’m not sincere. I have written to many organizations, churches, and individuals for assistance even before I secured admission into the Nigerian Law School, but nothing came out. But as God would have it, Bethesda Home decided to come to my rescue. iPhone 13! I never saw this coming.”
Ebel Chukwuemeka, a graduate of law from the University of Nigeria, Enugu campus, expresses gratitude to donors who have shown so much support to the home. “Thank you to our sponsors, our helpers, for supporting our home. We will not disappoint you.”
As the students join their counterparts in search of academic glory and professional fulfillment, their families, friends, and the home hope to attend the Call to Bar ceremony of these wonderful individuals in the early period of 2026.
Yes, they are blind. They may have been rejected by society, but in Bethesda Home, impossibilities do not exist.
Individuals who would love to support the work of Bethesda Home are free to donate to the home. Your donations will fund the transformative work of Bethesda—one that will not just change lives, but lift
people from positions of hopelessness to moments of fulfillment. Your donations do not only change the world, but transform people, one person at a time.
As the students receive lectures alongside their sighted counterparts, capturing important moments with their digital recorders, dreams are realized, moments created, and memories established—all thanks to Bethesda.