Society for The Blind unveils roadmap
The Federal Nigeria Society for the Blind (FNSB) has unveiled a roadmap aimed at increasing access to services, funding, stronger governance frameworks and improved outcomes for beneficiaries. FNSB Chairman, Mrs.
The Federal Nigeria Society for the Blind (FNSB) has unveiled a roadmap aimed at increasing access to services, funding, stronger governance frameworks and improved outcomes for beneficiaries.
FNSB Chairman, Mrs. Arit Tunde-Imoyo, stated this at the yearly leadership retreat of the society in Lagos.
“In a rapidly changing environment, we must ask not only what we have achieved, but what we must become,” she said.
She noted that the retreat was designed to shape the Society’s direction over the next two to five years rather than merely reviewing past activities.
MrsTunde-Imoyo said there was the need to broaden the Society’s reach and engage earlier with newly diagnosed individuals who could benefit from rehabilitation and vocational training.
She said: “Planned measures include sustainably increasing trainee admissions, strengthening collaboration with associations serving the visually impaired, establishing referral pathways with schools and eye hospitals, and intensifying awareness campaigns nationwide’.
“The key question is not whether there is need, but whether our systems are designed to meet it.’’
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On funding and sustainability, the chairman called for structured engagement with federal and state governments, as well as long-term partnerships with at least four committed organisations within the next five years.
She stressed the importance of strengthening the Society’s capacity to attract and manage international grants while improving governance and reporting systems to enhance donor confidence.
“Vision without resources is aspiration. Sustainability demands structure,” she said.
Tunde-Imoyo proposed the establishment of a robust After-Care Programme to support graduates, partnerships with technology firms to expand employment opportunities, the digitisation of the Society’s library into an assistive technology-enabled learning hub, and the deployment of data systems to track graduate employment and long-term impact.
Chairman, Board of Governors, FNSB Vocational Training Centre (VTC), Mrs. Ayopeju Njideaka, said the Society continues to challenge the perception that blindness signals the end of productivity, promoting instead the idea that visual impairment represents “another way of living life”.
She highlighted key strengths, including the Society’s national focus on individualised rehabilitation, its long-standing legacy of trust and expertise, dedicated staff, strategic Lagos location, established partnerships and spacious facilities.
However, she pointed to weaknesses such as limited classrooms and modern laboratories, low enrolment figures, curriculum gaps, funding constraints and accessibility challenges.
She identified opportunities in the national focus on disability inclusion, partnerships with government and private sector organisations, renewable energy initiatives, increasing demand for digital literacy, accreditation processes, entrepreneurship development and collaborations with technology firms.
Njideaka emphasised the need for curriculum updates, ICT upgrades, structured staff capacity building, entrepreneurship and freelancing pathways, and the integration of emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence into training programmes.
