 Welcome to the Advocates on Plus TV Africa, where your panelists discuss thought-provoking topics in an atmosphere of seriousness, decisiveness and laughter. Here we call a spade, a spade. And like we say here, no holds barred. Today, I'm talking about virtual signalling, or virtue signalling, in the representation of Down syndrome. In the same vein, Ejimai is asking if abortion is an option. Abdul Sanusi is talking on the reopening of the Lecky Toll Gate, and Elijah is asking us to put nationalism beyond tribal sentiments. Sit back. The panelists are here to present your Sunday dose of provoking thoughts after this break. Monday, 21st March 2022, was World Down Syndrome Day. World Down Syndrome Day, or WDSD, is a global awareness day started in 2006, and which has been officially observed by the UN since 2012. Now pay attention. The date for World Down Syndrome Day is the 21st day of the third month to mirror the condition, which causes a third or extra copy that is trisomy of the 21st chromosome. Hence the celebrations on the 21st day of the third month. Having a daughter with Down syndrome, it is a special day where we raise awareness through advocacy, but also celebrate and have fun with our special children. However, I began to notice something this year on social media. Brands were communicating with Happy World Down Syndrome Day posts and beautiful e-flyers, even posting staff members wearing mismatched socks. On a side note, for those of you who don't know, we wear mismatched socks on this day to signify chromosomes, as chromosomes are said to look like socks. The messages on the posts were lovely and nice and oh, I'm sure it was meant to be a field good thing to make us feel ever so grateful and all warm and mushy inside. However, when you look closer, all these brands were doing is virtue signalling. Virtue signalling is the act of speaking or behaving in a way that's meant to demonstrate one's good moral values. For example, if a person widely proclaims on social media that they strongly support a certain cause just because they want to show others how caring they are, that person is virtue signalling. On World Down Syndrome Day, I was honestly quite offended by all of this. That is brands wishing Happy WDSD to show their progressive and caring, but in reality are doing nothing to highlight the cause for which we advocate for. In Nigeria, I'm not aware of any brand, be it bank, telco, food and beverage, industry, fashion, etc. that work to include people with Down Syndrome and other special needs in their communications and campaigns. This year's WDSD theme was inclusion means. And really, what does that mean? People with Down Syndrome and their families have bank accounts, they use phones, they eat and drink, they wear clothes and so on like the rest of society. Yet, we are still to see people with Down Syndrome represented in any significant way, whether it is vocational training and being employed or in media and advertising campaigns. Internationally, people with Down Syndrome are starring in movies, being employed, opening businesses, modelling. In the past year, there has been a model with Down Syndrome on the cover of Vogue and another is now a Victoria's Secret model. In the UK, there is even a modelling agency that specifically represents people with disabilities and they're incredibly successful because the private and public sectors have woken up to the importance of multilateral representation. Until brands in Nigeria are willing to diversify and truly be inclusive with representing the Down Syndrome community, which includes those with special needs, their parents, carers and service providers, they should please not wish me happy World Down Syndrome Day and stop pretending to care. It's patronising and insulting. Hashtag no virtue signalling. I know I'm a feisty one. I know it's good, it's good. I feel your concern, your pain and the rest. It's always good for us to mean something, not just do it for doing sick. Everybody's doing it, let's just want to be. We just want to show that oh, we are aware of today's disability but no real meaning attached to it. I guess that's where we are coming from. Stakeholders from governments to everybody. Government in the sense that we have children, let's go to the public hospitals, for instance, public health centers, not every models. We have the necessary education or financial means to support these children. So what can the government do to support these indigent models, to take care of these children that has this? They are part of the human resource. They are not useless. They are useful. They can achieve greetings. Just like you said, the future in movies, in foreign movies. So what can they do in the country? They can actually grow to become someone very, you know, I remember a couple of months ago, I was watching a documentary that featured that where they, more like a drama, I shouldn't pass the music, a scientist got onto a plane and he had Down syndrome, sat beside someone that was irritated. Yes, I saw it. He saw that movie. Yes. Only for the man to find out that the physics book he was reading, it was written by this professor. So, you know, you've touched on a subject that is actually glaring, but we don't know how bad it is. Because when you were reading out the topic or so, I was thinking, this is actually quite deep. People would jump onto the next bango, just to be included. And yet, what exactly are they doing? And you're right, as in, these are people, are you trying to say, especially in Nigeria, that because somebody has a disability, they can't work, they can't do anything? So what's the future for them? We're even getting ahead of ourselves. Like, we even need to go back, because it first starts with acceptance in the mind. Yeah. It starts with the mind, because, and that's why this virtue signalling thing really annoyed me that day, because they can do so much without having to do too much. Do you know what I mean? Just to include someone with disabilities, that visual statement itself goes a long way. To put a child or an adult with Down syndrome in an advert that is entering people's homes. They say a picture says a thousand words. And that does a huge amount of advocacy, just by the existence of that content. But you've worked on it. Well, we need to hear from Olai and me, because she is an advocate like me in this, a parent's advocate, yes. So, in that case, that happens with us back home, the private sector, to be the next sort of people on board. So, once we have the individual soldiers, like Tonya and myself, the National Down syndrome Association of Nigeria, the Moray Move Foundation, and all of these individuals pushing for the people living with Down syndrome now. Thank you. Really makes sense for the private sector, the bands, it's helpful, but Tonya mentioned, to be the next in mind. So, it's a point where we don't take a stand on these things that I'm actively pursuing to increase the interest of these individuals, and just keep to come and social with them, to stay happy while Down syndrome is really. Exactly. The more distribution you have to stay with them, the more you don't have to speak with them. What channels are you open? What contents are these also? How are you going to make them better? Do you want anything in any way or shape? So, why do you not think it's right for you to come out and plus like all the other websites, or have you all Down syndrome? Exactly. The point with that is that, remind me, Tonya said, the most common goal of helping these individuals, and I'm sure you all know, to, you know, to reach a larger audience. So, we need the private sector to come and feel our hands and stand behind us while we advocate for a better life for people living here. And I think you make such a good point, Ola and me. And I know what some of these private sectors are going to say, that, oh, it may affect the bottom line, because people might not accept it, because they think that they perceive that it would maybe not be good for their business, or their bottom line. That's where government comes in. And that's absolute nonsense. That's rubbish. That's absolutely nonsense. I already know that's kind of the response, the initial, you know, kickback that will happen. But it's actually nonsense, because proven, if you look at statistics internationally, that when you do have these inclusive campaigns, it actually benefits the bottom line for those companies. If you look at Doug in the UK about 20 years ago or 15 years ago, they did that campaign, which showed all different kind of colors of skin and bodies. And that was the most successful campaign ever. So it just shows that, honestly, they will fall back on the initial kickback reaction. But we as individuals are at the forefront, we live this every day, and we're pushing, but it is time for private sector to stand up, government to stand up, government is doing far more than private sector. So let's just give the government some photos on that, because of their law putting in inclusive education. So that's written into law, but they have to do more than that. But they're doing more, far more than the private sector. So basically, there's a law. I mean, the private sector have not actually act upon it. No, in terms of education. But what we are looking for is also some kind of affirmative action. Companies are told to hire a certain amount, I think 35% of the workforce have to be female. Okay, we're not expecting 35% of the company yet to be people with disabilities. But we need affirmative action in this, because people with disabilities, whether it's Down syndrome, whether it's cerebral palsy, can work and do work and can do a great job if given the chance. But the society is so prejudiced that they are not given the opportunity to be full fledged members of society. And if you think about a private sector, a bank choosing to do a campaign or a food brand or a fashion brand deciding to say, we're going to take this on and we're going to have a model with Down syndrome or we're going to have an actor with Down syndrome in our commercial, that goes a long, long way because of the number of people who get to see it. But they are seen as human beings. Down syndrome is just the factor of who they are. And the realisation that they do have bank accounts, they do have phones, they do interact. So why, if we take underwear, they wear pants, they wear bra, so look at Victoria's Secret because their customers are also people with special needs. Like what you said from history. Okay, so we have... No, if something is not done, like before, if you take this example, you never thought there would be a Black American president until the Hollywood started showing Black... In 24, yeah. Yeah, 24, started showing Black person. That changed people's narrative and might. So that's what needs to be done. People need to see a disabled person in a wheelchair or a dishandle. If they don't, if that does not happen, everything's just talk, nothing. Exactly. You know? Well, on that note, up next is Edgermy. Stay with us.