By INYALI PETER, Calabar
A varsity don and the President of Speech Pathologists and Audiologists in Nigeria (SPAAN) Professor J.A Ademokoya has called on the National Assembly to make legislation that seek to address the hazard of noise pollution in Nigeria.
Professor Ademokoya said this on Wednesday, November 26, 2015 while speaking at the South-South SPAAN awareness program titled “Speak-well, Hear-well held at the New Theatre, University of Calalabar, Calabar.
Ademokoya who is a lecturer in the department of Special Education, University of Ibadan and a Professor of Speech and Hearing Rehabilitation argued that to tackle the upsurge of hearing loss in the country, the must be agencies established by law to control the sources of noise.
According to him, “hearing loss generally is associated with age but in Nigeria records shows that young people are loosing their hearing organ on daily basis which is as a result of excessive noise.
We want to urge government to put the necessary legislation, agencies and infrastructure to control the sources and causes of noise in the country”.
Also speaking, the Chief Medical Director of University of Calabar Teaching Hospital, Dr Thomas Aga who was represented by Dr Edim Iyaba said the relevance of speaking and hearing cannot be overemphasized even as he said there are inseparably interwoven.
He stressed that medical establishment in the country should have pathologists and audiologists who are trained locally and abroad to ensure the structures and personnel function optimally.
Earlier, the Dean of Faculty of Education, University of Calabar Prof Florence Obi in her opening remarks averred that speaking and hearing impaired persons are likely to cut off from most important aspects of life including having access to quality education as well as living self-fulfilled life.