Abstract
In this chapter, I examine the meaning of well-being (lafiya) for physically disabled women and men—mainly as a result of polio—who live in Zaria, in Northern Nigeria. For them, the physical condition of being lame is not necessarily a source of stigma. Rather, the disabled person who has established a family with children; has extended family connections, active social and political ties, an education, and work; and who maintains a religious life has lafiya—well-being—despite being disabled. Yet the experiences of those who are disabled—based on class background, education, and gender—also affect what constitutes well-being. In Zaria, the life experiences of disabled women and men are quite different. While aspects of well-being (lafiya) in Zaria overlap with some US Quality of Life Indices, local cultural concerns, economic constraints, and infrastructural restrictions underscore the distinctive ways in which disability and well-being are experienced in Northern Nigeria.
Father was always smiling, and the children liked him—all Ibraham Dara’s children were pleasant and smiling people. (Baba of Karo)
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Acknowledgements
This study was conducted, in part, with funds from the Advanced Studies Center, the International Institute, and from the Institute for Research on Women and Gender, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. I am grateful to the members of the Kungiyar Guraga Zazzau, in particular, Musa Muhammed, Mohammed Lawal, Magajin Garin Dan Yaro, and the late Garba Hassan, among others; to the headmasters and teachers of Al Huda Huda College, Zaria; and to the officials at the Rehabilitation Centre, Kaduna, and at the Kaduna State Office of Special Education. I also thank Ya’u Tanimu, Hassana Yusuf, Dakyes Usman, and Ibrahim Abba for their helpful advice concerning my research.
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1. Depending on the wishes of her husband, her family’s position and wealth, and her educational background, a married woman may be in a type of marriage known as kulle auren—secluded marriage (literally, “locked marriage”) that prescribes her movements in various ways. This means that most women living in Zaria City stay in their homes during the day but may go out at night to visit family and friends who might be ill or recently delivered, contrary to what is sometimes imagined by outsiders when one speaks of seclusion (see also Coles 1991: 169). With their husband’s permission, they may go out at other times, particularly during weekend rounds of visiting and at naming ceremonies and wedding celebrations. More recently, married women have begun to attend Islamiyya schools (mainly in the evening), while a small group of women who have secondary and post-secondary education also work outside their homes as teachers or nurses. While these women should have their husband’s permission and should go directly to where they have said they were going (and not be seen “just walking around”), they have some autonomy in making social visits, in going to school, and, for some, working outside their homes. Furthermore, restrictions on women’s movements may be mandated by husbands but they also derive from women’s assessments of each other—of their mutunci, of their self-respect (Renne 2004).
2. In the 2005 “The Economist Intelligence Unit’s quality-of-life index,” Nigeria ranked 108 out of 111 nation-states (The Economist 2005).
3. This chapter is part of a larger study of the Global Polio Eradication Initiative in Northern Nigeria, which included an examination of the lives of the polio-disabled. Along with the study methodologies (participant-observation, long-term residence in the study community (for at least 2 week annually, from 1994 to 2011), qualitative open-ended interviews, and published documents), I adapted the generic version of the Ferrans and Powers Quality of Life Index© (as discussed) and administered the questionnaire in February 2011. For a more detailed discussion of research methods, see Renne (2009, 2010).
4. The pervasiveness of almsgiving may be seen in the practice of alms marriage. A daughter may also be given as alms if she is betrothed to a religious scholar (Smith 1954: 252). Known as a giving bride of alms, this practice may not be as common as it was in the past. Nonetheless, it conveys a sense of the pervasiveness of almsgiving as a moral good.
5. These groups were modeled after the organization of traditional rule, with turbaning ceremonies for the installation of titled officials such as the sarkin guragu Zazzau (king), magajin gari (titled official of the town), and magatakarda (secretary) (Smith 1960).
6. Poliomyelitis (literally, inflammation of the gray marrow [of the central nervous system]) is caused by a type of Enterovirus, found throughout the world. Since it is spread mainly through fecal-oral transmission, which can occur by inadvertently swallowing contaminated water or by ingesting foodstuffs which have come into contact with contaminated water or feces, the environmental context plays a significant role in effecting who contracts polio and at what age. In environments with little or no public sanitation systems, as in Zaria City, infants often contract the infection symptom-free, resulting in sufficient antibodies to confer immunity. In these cases, the poliovirus remains in the alimentary track, primarily in the small intestine, where the body’s immune system produces antibodies that counter the virus, which is subsequently excreted, usually within a period of a few weeks. In rare instances—approximately one in 200 cases—the virus penetrates the central nervous system, particular the gray matter of the spinal column, where it causes lesions, which if extensive, affect the motor nerve supply of the muscles, resulting in paralysis (Paul 1971).
7. Alhaji Garba’s travels were not restricted to Nigeria. Like many Hausa migrant men who work as traders during the dry season when they cannot farm, he traveled to other countries in West Africa, including Ghana and Cote d’Ivoire (Interview, 30 August 2005; see Renne 2010).
8. This shift from an association modeled on traditional political organization to nongovernmental organizations reflects the increasing importance of state and local government, associated with the Nigerian state rather than a traditional emirate. One older member of the Kungiyar Guragu Zazzau explained the decline in attendance to the fact that weekly contributions were no longer being given to needy members, but rather were being deposited in a bank account, which only the literate could control (Interview, 7 July 2009).
9. Her comments reflect my questions relating to post-polio syndrome (Silver and Gawne 2004). After asking about pain or problems breathing, I explained that some older polio people in European countries had these problems. When I then asked if perhaps it was modesty (mutunci) that was preventing her from mentioning these health problems, she emphatically said, “No, it’s because we don’t feel pain in our bodies!”
10. Bargery (1993 (1954): 679) translates kwanciyar hankali as “1. being in comfortable circumstances and without enemies and 2. ease and peace of mind.”
11. More specific versions of the Ferrans and Powers QOL Index© for particular conditions such as diabetes and dialysis are available. In both questionnaires, two additional questions relate to the particular condition; the other questions are the same.
12. People’s responses seemed to reflect who was participating in the interview process. It is unusual, unless one specifically asked for privacy, to be alone with a respondent, so that often both husband and wife were present at interviews. How this affects people’s responses to personal questions about husband’s support or one’s family has not yet been considered.
13. In the past year, these organizations have used the presidential and state elections to put pressure on the federal government. For example, in the recent presidential election, the president of the Disabled Rehabilitation Foundation (DRF) encouraged people with disabilities to boycott the elections after a bill for the support of the disabled was rejected by federal legislators (Ahmadu-Suka 2011; Ibrahim 2010; Jimoh 2010).
14. The COMPASS program ended in 2009 (Rabiu 2009).
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Renne, E.P. (2013). Disability and Well-Being in Northern Nigeria. In: Warren, N., Manderson, L. (eds) Reframing Disability and Quality of Life. Social Indicators Research Series, vol 52. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-3018-2_3
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