NCPWD is one year old, great lofty height indeed; memories are made of these…
From the very beginning of time, Nigeria, as with every other nation of the world has had to grapple with the inherent social phenomenon of classism; the systemic categorization of people in different classes, each distinguished by their access to certain set and or levels of privileges and opportunities, at a rate or level lower, at par or higher than the others.
Beyond the class contrast, however, there is yet another status and or standard that has acquired a definitive norm in our social construct and it is more often than always another form of social classification that dictate what sort of opportunities that certain individuals can access in the society. This form of social dichotomy is more an issue of perceived individual capacity and function than it is a social condition; it is the Disability situation in Nigeria.
(According to the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, “Disability is the long-term physical, mental, intellectual or sensory which in interaction with various barriers may hinder (a person’s) full and effective participation in society on an equal basis with others.’)
In the loosest sense and meaning of the word, most Nigerians can lay claim to being disabled in one way and form or the other but, in the context of both social and humanitarian discourse, however, disability is viewed as a biological condition or an impairment which leaves an individual unable to perform certain functions and or make the most use of any part of their anatomy. Considering that the Nigerian society is by convention, status-stricken and superficial, the manner by which a person is dealt with varies, depending on which class s/he is perceived to belong with, it is commonplace to find a person with disability is likelier to be treated with far less dignity than a non-disabled person.
Of course, there are to this day, countless unpleasant experiences that Persons with Disability (PWDs) have had that lend credence to the assertion that indeed the average PWD is without honour in his fatherland.
For what seems like an eternity, the struggle for many PWDs has been to fix the anomaly in the society, the tenuous strains of living with the discrimination and indignity of being treated by non- disabled persons as less than human. There has been a systemic neglect and wilful ignorance on the part of the larger society about the nuances and dynamics around disability, stemming on the one part from cultural belief systems and disinformation owing to lack of a body of exhaustive, research-backed and evidence-based empirical study on the other hand.
The pervasive nature of the stigmatization and discrimination which PWDs face also stem from the fact that until recently, there was no law which forms the fundamental paradigm from which equality of opportunity can be established.
Consequently, the struggle for acceptance and recognition for many within the disability in the community has been multidimensional. Contrary to generally held view, the issue of the rights which should ordinarily be accorded to PWDs does flow from the ideal of Fundamental Human Rights.
The attitude of Nigeria to people with disability from the perspective of legislation, employment opportunities, housing rights, equal access to educational opportunities, transportation, healthcare services and political rights has always been very poor. Prior to the establishment of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, UNCRPD in 2006, the Disability situation in Nigeria has always been reduced all but to the dismal interpretations of those who assume that it is sufficiently addressed within the prisms of Charity and welfare, and is for the most part, more a humanitarian issue than it is a social issue with multilayered dimensions.
Even more, the challenges have been mostly left to the Civil Society Organization with a bias for Disability Rights and as far as legislation went, the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria barely mentioned anything in particular related to Disability Rights. On this note, in ensuring that PWDs were treated with the respect and dignity they deserved, the Civil Society Organizations and Development agencies had to partner together with a handful of disability rights groups and Activists to strive to attain a common goal.
It is at this point that Nigeria began to witness diverse pressure group formation of Persons With disabilities such as the Coalition for Change (C4C), Action Aid (AA), Barr. Bashir Danlami, Mr. David Anyaele of the Centre for Citizens with Disabilities, CCD, MR. Jake Epelle of The Albino Foundation, Irene Patrick Ojugbo of Disability Rights Advocacy Centre, DRAC and the late Paul Adelabu one of the principals of the disability schools, Danlami Basharu, a United Kingdom trained lawyer vast in the western social relations with PWDs, Jonathan Tinat of the deaf community who later died in 2007 were all on the forefront of the struggle to stop the discriminations of the PWDs in the country.
Beyond the efforts from civil society organizations and the agitations of Disabled Persons Organizations such as the Joint National Association of Persons with Disabilities, JONAPWD, the mainstreaming of the ideals and principles of disability rights including Accessibility and Social Inclusion within the fray of broader social discourses, there were also a number of political influencers who used their offices and political clout to draw attention to the bill and credit must indeed be given to the former Senate President Bukola Saraki and Senator Osita Izunaso both of whom among a number of other lawmakers, became morally invested in the bill and pushed for it to be signed into law.
Instructively, the relentless efforts of other stakeholders within the disability community-some playing their part from the state levels-made the issue gain much public acclaim and for the first time since the bill was first brought up for deliberation on the floor of the National Assembly, attention was drawn to the plight and sufferings of the over 25 million PWDs in Nigeria who had been deprived access to the most basic social amenities by virtue of their impairments. Plateau State was one of, if not the very first state to move to pass a Disability Bill and signed into law and also set up a Disability Rights Commission at the state.
Thanks to the efforts of leading disability rights advocates including Mr. James David Lalu; himself the first Executive Chairman of the Plateau State Disability Rights Commission and other frontline activists, Plateau became one of the most disability inclusive states in the country.
Eventually on March 28, 2018, after nearly two decades of relentless activism and advocacy by several disability interest groups, the Discrimination against Persons with Disabilities Prohibition Act was passed as an Act of the National Assembly and ready for the President’s assent.
The Act which had been refused assent by three preceding presidents was eventually signed into law by President Muhammadu Buhari on the 23rd of January, 2019, setting the pace for a renewed sense of comfort and confidence in the possibility that the society would now begin to accord all PWDs with the respect they deserved.
This led to the establishment of the National Commission for Persons with Disabilities, which brought in James David Lalu as the newly appointed Executive Secretary in August 2020.
In summary, to ensure that these cultural practices against persons with disabilities are prevented and to enhance their rights and wellbeing, it is important that the cultural practices are targeted.
However, the establishment of the Commission is only a step which should be taken further to impact more on the lives of PWDs. No one should now rest on the oars in order not to allow the labours of the heroes that gave their lives to the struggle to attain the position of the 2018 Act and establishment of the Commission be ineffective.
National Summit of Persons With disabilities to stabilize the impact presumed of the Commission should be the target moving forward, as unity of purpose is quite invaluable to success.
One year on, we trudge on…!
BY THE MEDIA AND PUBLICIITY UNIT (NCPWD)
29th August, 2021
