The Joint National Association of Persons with Disabilities (JONAPWD) has reminded the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), of the letter written by Mr. Unini Emeka on the missing column for people with disability on NNPC Organization employment website which has closed already.
This was contained in a letter dated the 2nd of May, 2019, and signed by the vice president, Abdullahi Alieu. The letter which was addressed to the Human Resource Director of the Corporation in which the attention of the Group Managing Director, and the Director Public Relation was drawn, informed the Corporation of the all disability competent to aid the application process as stipulated by the newly signed Nigerian Disability law which states “that all public organizations are to reserve at least 5% of employment opportunities for those with disabilities” (Discrimination Against Persons with Disabilities (Prohibition) Act, 2018.
Speaking further, JONAPWD informed NNPC of the fact that it is the only umbrella body of all associations (clusters) of Disabled People’s organization (DPOs) as well as civil society organizations working on disability issues in Nigeria recognized by governments at national, state and local government area, and drew the Corporation’s attention to the concluded online employment application process where it did not make provisions for persons with disabilities to be fully included in the application process.
The letter also stated that people with disabilities will not accept any attempt that is targeted towards the exclusion of persons with disabilities based on employment as provided by both the Discrimination Against Persons with disabilities (Prohibition) Act 2018 and the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRRD) which Nigeria is a signatory, thus urging the Corporation to call for a meeting within the shortest possible time to provide a platform where people with disabilities can make inputs on how to solve these issues and the inclusion of persons with Disabilities in the Corporation’s employment process because the just concluded exercise has non-existence of disability components in the process.
“The joint National Association of Persons with Disabilities (JONAPWD) is the only umbrella body of all associations (clusters) of Disabled People’s organization (DPOs) as well as civil society organizations working on disability issues in Nigeria recognized by governments at national, state and locals (JOAPWD) has existed for over one decade, promoting the rights of persons with disabilities (PWDs) advocating for inclusive laws and policies, and engaging with all sectors and stakeholders in the society to enhance social inclusion of PWDs JONAPWD currently has affiliated chapters in all the 36 States and the FCT Abuja.
The Qualitative Magazine recalled that Mr. Unini Emeka had earlier written a letter on the 18th day of March, 2019, to the management of the NNPC titled, “Missing Column For People With Disability On NNPC Organization Employment Website”. We discovered that the Corporation never replied or acknowledged the mail Mr. Unini sent to them. This has angered the people with disabilities to remind the corporation of the grave omission and has called for a meeting to guide the corporation on how best they can be mainstreamed which is backed by the law.
