“I went for an interview at Lekki. While we were all waiting for the interview to start, the security man told me to hand over my CV and leave the premises. I was shocked and surprised. I had no issues with anybody and I tried to find out the reason they wanted me to get out, even before the interview started. But nobody offered any explanation.

The security man said he was told to send me out and if I didn’t want to drop my CV, that’s up to me. He just wants me to leave. To avoid creating a scene, I dropped my CV and left.

I never got to hear from them. I was broken and torn apart. What did I do to deserve this sort of humiliation and ill treatment? I only have neurofibromatosis which causes tumor to grow on my skin. But it is not contagious or infectious in any way.

I grew up seeing my skin this way and I felt since I do not have a beautiful skin, at least let me work hard for myself.

I graduated with a first class degree in microbiology and right now, I am assisting my mum in her shop because no employer wants to employ me.

Even after going through the stress of explaining the medical nature of neurofibromatosis and it’s harmless nature, people still treat me differently everywhere. It hurts. I just want the world to know I am a normal person and these tumors are not contagious.

These rejections have started getting to me and I can’t bear it any longer. I get on buses and people try to avoid me like a plague. I just want to live a normal life and be happy, is that too much to ask for?”

-Rebecca Jolayemi