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Completing higher education studies should be one of the happiest moments for any scholar after sleepless nights and uncountable sacrifices. But this was not the case for a 33-year-old graduate identified only as Nsidibe, who has been living with HIV/AIDS from birth.
Nsidibe told our correspondent that his convocation day was the saddest day of his life, because it brought reality closer to him than he had expected.
He said that he didn’t bother to attend the convocation because he envisaged that the degree would be useless to him.
“There is no need to get a certificate one would end up not able to use,” he said, punctuating his words with long strings of silence as someone running out of breath.
“Before going to university, I tried getting a job as a hotel assistant. After a series of tests and interviews, which the administration manager told me I performed excellently, I didn’t get the placement. I returned to ask them what happened and the admin manager, in the presence of some members of staff at her office at the time, blurted, ‘You say you get HIV, you come here to find work. We tell you say here na hospital? Abeg, carry your HIV dey go!’. Everyone turned and looked in my direction and I walked away in shame; I could feel their eyes pierce through my veins, he said.
Nsidibe said he kept trying different offices as his final transcripts were being processed by the university, adding that every firm he applied to turned him down at the final stage of medical examinations.
He said, “Some told me outright that I shouldn’t have applied because of my ‘condition’; others just said they would get back to me. I am physically strong and I can work. I made a second class upper grade in my degree. I have been on antiretroviral medications for over 15 years now and I am responsible. I still don’t understand why my HIV status has to be used to judge me, even the multinationals.”
Ndisibe said he resorted to working with local firms who could not afford to get a test done, but on one occasion, his employer brought in a walk-in nurse and told everyone that they would be tested for HIV/AIDS.
“I resisted at first. I thought it was a joke. I asked him if he was serious. He said if I didn’t want to get tested, I should quit. I stood there and told him that I was HIV positive and have been so from birth and wasn’t going to take the test. He laughed and paused, asking me if I was serious. When he saw I wasn’t joking, he told me to leave the office,” he added.
Nsidibe noted that as days turned into weeks, people in his neighbourhood spoke about him in whispers.
He added that a trader and barber in the vicinity would refuse to attend to him, stating that the development made him realise that his health status had become a knowledge in the neighbourhood.
“I was treated like an outcast, like I was some deadly animal that would devour anyone I came close to. It was both embarrassing and funny. My ‘friends’ would send me a text and call me all sorts of names and I kept wondering what I did wrong. It wasn’t my fault that I have HIV. I was born with it.” he asked.
I sometimes regret giving birth to him – Mother
Speaking to our correspondent, Comfort, Nsidibe’s mother, said her son’s unemployed status had always been a source of worry to her, stating that she always encouraged him that ‘even normal people in today’s Nigeria do not have jobs,’ so he shouldn’t dwell much on it when declined employment.
She added, “I know my son is brilliant. He has been like this since childhood. Watching my son go from office to office and returning back with same story of discrimination makes me livid. Sometimes, I even regret giving birth to him. I should have terminated the pregnancy, but it was too late; the doctors said I could lose my life as well.’’
Comfort said it was when she was pregnant with Nsidibe that she found out she was HIV positive.
According to her, her hopes went bleak even though her husband was supportive, he did not live long enough to show her support.
“Sincerely, I cannot tell how I got it. I was a teacher at a private school and was healthy. I only went for our normal routine checks and the doctor called me into the office and started educating me about HIV. I wondered what pep talk was about until he told me that I should be strong that I had the virus.
“I thought I was going to die, because I had never come in contact with anyone who had HIV/AIDS. I think I fainted. My husband was also confirmed positive. I cannot even tell where it came from. I don’t want to go over how my home felt during those periods. My husband will come close to me and I will push him away, because I was still trying to understand where the virus came from. It was a really trying time for my family,” she noted.
Comfort said the situation took a more awkward turn when she told her pastor’s wife about the situation and it became a prayer point centring on her name.
She said, “You’d hear things like, ‘Let us pray for Sister Comfort’s family because the devil is tormenting them with a deadly disease. HIV is not a joke!” I left the church and changed location entirely, but there was little I could do. Before I knew what was happening, my husband died and news went round that AIDS killed him and I was next in line. Some said I was a prostitute and God was paying me for my promiscuity.’’
Identities of the individuals have been protected against discrimination.
Face of employment discrimination
Nsidibe and Comfort are two of the estimated 3.5 million People Living with HIV/AIDS in Nigeria according to the recent figures released by the World Health Organisation.
According to hiv.gov, six states in Nigeria account for 41 per cent of te People living with HIV, including Kaduna, Akwa Ibom, Benue, Lagos, Oyo, and Kano. HIV prevalence is highest in the southern states at 5.5 per cent. Since 2010, AIDS-related deaths have decreased by 35 per cent to 2019, and 89 per cent of those with a positive diagnosis in Nigeria are accessing antiretroviral treatment.
Amid this situation, employers are wary of employing PLWHA.
Constance, a 37-year-old mother of three, is another person living with HIV/AIDS in Nigeria. She noted that her situation was akin to being an outcast as every employer identified her as a liability.
She said she stopped going for interviews because she knew it would end up in a medical examination which would be used to judge whether she was qualified or not.
“When my employer finds out about my status, they act like I would die the next minute. They would begin to treat me with resentment and would not want to have any more conversation. Some would pretend to be fine with it, but you’d never get feedback as to whether one would be employed or not. I would later find out that the role has been filled,’’ she said.
Constance said she didn’t only lose jobs on account of her medical status but also got jilted by her fiancé after knowing about her status.
She noted, “He didn’t even let me explain but shouted “Asewo (prostitute)!’’ when I told him. This was the same person that promised me everything when the going was good. But when it was time to stand by me, he left.’’
The unemployed graduate of business management said she lost her first husband when she was pregnant with her last child and she had to cater to her three children on her own, hawking food in the streets of Uyo with a truck.
She added, “All my children are negative. My husband, till he died, was negative. I knew my status on time, and began treatment. Though I was afraid with my first pregnancy, when the test was done on the child, it came out negative.’’
On why she left her last job, where she worked as a teacher, she said the proprietor one day said every employee would undergo a medical examination, stating that it was a directive by the Ministry of Education.
She stated, “I requested to see a circular to that effect, but he told me that if I didn’t want to get tested, I should look for another job. I resigned that day. I worked with him for over six years as one of the pioneer staff. I was with him when he had nothing. I told one of my friends about my status, but I didn’t know she disclosed it to the proprietor and that would be the reason he said we must all get tested and present our results to him. Since then, I decided to stay unemployed and look for a way to feed the three children. Every employer sees me as a liability; I see myself that way, too, so I won’t blame them.”
A similar situation is what a 42-year-old lady identified only as Gift is experiencing.
Gift said her husband abandoned her with the kids the day they went to the hospital and discovered she was HIV positive.
She added, “My kids are negative. I was negative before I got married. I don’t know how I contracted it but my husband that I should ask questions has abandoned me.’’
The sit-at-home mother said most of the jobs offered her were domestic roles in homes of influential people, adding that the recruiters usually told her she would take HIV/AIDS tests.
Gift added, “Once they tell me I will undergo a medical test, I don’t return there. My first experience was unpalatable. I am a graduate of Mass Communication. My ex-husband didn’t allow me to work then, because he said I should stay at home and take care of our children. Else, by now, I would be in a bank which offered me a job after graduation. After my husband left me, I went in search of a job that would give me time to take care of my children and still work. I got connected to the wife of a politician in Bayelsa. She told me to come for an interview. After the interview, she said I needed to do medicals because it was a live-in role. I offered myself to be tested. She called me one day that I should resume. When I got there that day, the woman insulted me that I was wicked knowing my health status yet wanted to take up the job and infect her children. I almost died that day. Since then, I sell wares in front of the house to survive.’’
Effects of discrimination
A human resources manager in one of the commercial banks in the country who spoke to our correspondent on condition of anonymity said that most firms would pose as ‘equal opportunities firms,’ but in truth, want to make their money and go.’
He said, “Nobody wants to have to make some special changes for an employee, even if that is the way it ought to be done. Once we see a person who has HIV/AIDS, it is assumed that certain adjustments have to be made, and not all companies are willing to do so.’’
On his part, Director Vulnerable Group Department, National Human Rights Commission, Dahiru Bobbo, in an email response to our correspondent on the matter stated that PLWHA were often discriminated against by employers of labour ‘as well as in the health sector.’
He claimed that the health status of PLWHA was often revealed without their consent either by health workers or employers of labour who conduct HIV tests as precondition for employment. Bobbo stated that such often resulted in denial of employment, stating that such was discriminatory.
A retired professor of sociology at the Lead City University, Ibadan, Oyo State, Adetanwa Odebiyi, stated that it was unfair to discriminate against PLWHA on the basis of their health status which they had no control over.
Adetanwa said, “Every individual has a right to education, good health, job opportunities and others. If you discriminate against them and not give them jobs, you are ‘killing’ them already for life, because they are already going through a lot of challenges medically as a result of the condition. Now, you don’t want to give them a job based on that status; that is so unfair. Now, people have palliative treatment for HIV/AIDS. It is like hypertensive patients who have to be on medication for life. PLWHA also may have to be on their antiretroviral drugs for life. They should have equal rights to job opportunities.”
She added that the HIV status of anyone should not be used as a criterion to judge whether or not the person was qualified for a job. She noted, “We have hepatitis which is even more contagious than AIDS, and many employees cover it and may infect others. But for AIDS, once you are on medication, you can work effectively and people will not even know you have the virus.”
Position of the law
In 2015, the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS issued some guidelines which referred to HIV-related discrimination as the “unfair and unjust treatment (act or omission) of an individual based on his or her real or perceived HIV status. It defined HIV-related stigma as “negative beliefs, feelings, and attitudes towards people living with HIV, groups associated with PLWHA and other key populations at higher risk of HIV infection.’’
The discrimination and stigmatisation regarded as human rights violations often make them more vulnerable to other related psychological as well as physical illnesses.
There are various laws and policies for the promotion, protection and enforcement of rights of PLWHA. These include the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, International Labour Organisation Recommendation concerning HIV and AIDS in the World of Work 2010 (No. 200) including the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (as amended).
In the UDHR, Article Two notes that ‘Everyone is entitled to all the rights and freedoms set forth in this Declaration, without distinction of any kind, such as race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or other status’.
The ILOR concerning HIV/AIDS took it a step further by stating clearly in the General Principles No. 3 (c) that “there should be no discrimination against or stigmatisation of workers, in particular jobseekers and job applicants, on the grounds of real or perceived HIV status…”
In Section 34 (1) of the Nigerian constitution (as amended) states that, “Every individual is entitled to respect for the dignity of his person, and accordingly,” Sections 34 (a) also states that ‘no person shall be subject to torture or to inhuman or degrading treatment’.
HIV and AIDS (Anti-Discrimination) Act, 2014, signed by former President Goodluck Jonathan, in Part II Section 3 provides that ‘People Living with or affected by HIV or AIDS have a right to freedom from discrimination on the basis of their HIV status concerning access to and continues employment, conditions of employment, amongst others.
