The Executive Director of Centre for Citizens with Disabilities (CCD), Mr. David Anyaele on TVC morning show responding on how persons with disabilities can vote in the Edo State Governorship Election said that it will be undermining the provisions of national disability act as well as undermining the INEC access and participation of PWD’S frame work which they designed to enhance the participation of PWD’S if PWDs stay away from Edo Election.

From the research we conducted which our respondents are PWDs themselves, they assured us that will be voting which will exposure them to hardships and danger. They are worried about the security situation of the state and they are asking INEC collaborate with relevant security operatives to ensure safety environment to enable PWDs to vote for a candidate of their choice.

Some respondents in the research they conducted said that they are not given priority voting. It is not expensive to ensure priority voting, INEC can actually allow the deaf persons to come to the polling booths with their sign language interpreters and also engage some volunteer sign language interpreters to support them.

He lamented the absence of Disability law in Edo State, he called on governor Obaseki to liase with State Assembly to domesticate Disability Act in the state because most of these challenges stem from the cultural stigmatization and discrimination which make the public believe that PWDs have no need to participate in politics.

The security operatives especially the police and army should not allow Kogi experience to happen in Edo. Fake policemen and soldiers were seen in Kogi election and if it is allowed in Edo election, it will undermine the credibility of the election. The security personnel should clear the areas and get the raid of holdrums so that vulnerable people like PWDs can vote, he added.

He stated that PWDs are worried about that, infact it is one issue that raised in the focus group discussions in our survey for INEC preparedness for election.

He complained about the inability of Edo State government to domesticate Disability law, PWDs in Edo have tried to create awareness on the about the act but it seems government is not listening. The challenges have been highlighted in the presence of the governor and he has even made a promise in 2016 that Disability Act will be domesticated .

Since then we are yet to see that and we are saying that Edo state indigenes with Disabilities are the brightest in Nigeria and they deserve their rights to be protected and they participate actively in politics and other sphere of life

The Minister, Federal Capital Territory has approved the implementation of the DAPWDA also known as the Disability Act in the FCT. Information on the approval was conveyed in a letter dated September 02, 2020 to the Association of Lawyers with Disabilities in Nigeria (ALDIN), following a demand by the ALDIN to the Minister of the FCT and several other relevant Ministries urging them to begin immediate implementation of the Act within the FCT.

In the letter addressed to the ALDIN which conveyed the said approval, the Minister promised to collaborate with ALDIN and other relevant stakeholders in the implementation process.

ALDIN been delighted and enthused by this milestone, is accordingly calling on all other Ministries to follow suit in their commitment to the implementation of the Disability Act.

Yusuf A.M Iyodo, Esq.
Director, Media and Publicity

See a copy of the approval letter

The Anambra State Commissioner for housing, Arc. Mike Okonkwo, met with Representatives of persons with disabilities expressing readiness for partnership in housing scheme with them.

The meeting which was held at the commissioner’s office had in attendance the Special Adviser to the Governor on Disability Matters, Barr. Chuks Ezewuzie and Representatives of persons living with disability. In the meeting, several issues were deliberated on. This included ways the office of the Governor on Disability Matters (OGDM) can work with the Ministry of Housing to actualize the Governor’s vision for the community of persons living with disability.

The Commissioner, after the deliberations, expressed his willingness to partner with the Office of the Governor on Disability Matters to fulfil Governor’s Disability Inclusive policies.

Present at the meeting were the cluster heads of the community of persons living with disability and representatives of the Executive officers of Anambra State chapter of the Joint National Association of Persons with Disabilities(JONAPWD).

Meanwhile, the Special Adviser to the Governor on Disability Matters Barrister Chukwuka Ezewuzie has inaugurated a media team for Office Of The Governor On Disability Matters.

The objectives of the team, according to a statement, is to put out information and create awareness to the public through various print, mass and social media.

The team is also expected to respond to feedbacks from the public; educate and enlighten the public and save them from being ignorant of the activities of the Anambra State Government through the office.

Barrister Ezewuzie, while explaining the beauty of social media in the dissemination of information – if used properly, charged all members of the team to be diligent, factual and prompt in carrying of their duties and finally tasked them to ensure that all social media handles of OGDM are put into good use for posting of news reports.

He also charged them to always portray and bring to the knowledge of the public various activities of the office.

Members of the newly inaugurated media team include: Mr Collins Joseph- leader of the team, Mr Amaobi Nwagu, Mrs Chidera Okafor, Mr Emmanuel Enoch, Miss Chidimma Ajemba, Miss Ekpa Ewa and Comr.Ugochukwu Okeke.

TQM report from Benin City, Edo State

Inclusive Friends Association (IFA) and NAPVID on Saturday, September 12, in Benin City trained PWD leaders Advocacy and Issue Framing ahead of the Governorship Candidate Debates on Sunday 13^th September.

The training was conducted to equip PWD leaders in the state with useful skills on conducting data driven and result oriented debate.

Participants were taken through the process of legislative advocacy, primarily to prepare their minds and build their capacity for post-election engagements with the candidate that wins the election on September 19.

Additionally, participants also drew out all the issues that affect them as a group in Edo state. The issues were categorized by all participants in a breakout session and 5 issues were framed out of the entire problem statements provided by participants.

The issues were framed around these basic areas of priority: 1. Implementation of the 5% employment quota as provided in the Disability Act. 2. Inclusive Education for all PWDs 3. Domestication of the Disability Act in the state and setup of an agency or commission to drive implementation. 4. Electoral and political participation 5. Health coverage for PWDs. These 5 areas agreed by participants forms the questions guide that governorship candidates would be engaged to answer and also make commitments during the debate today at 7pm.

some pictures of the training

By IZANG BALA BULUS

Beautiful Gate Handicapped People Center Jos partnering with Conscience International on Saturday 12^th September to distributed palliative to persons with Disabilities.

In an interaction with TQM, Chief Ayuba Burki Gufwan, the founder of Beautiful Gate Handicapped People Center who is also a person with disability said that Beautiful Gate was established primarily to bridge the gap in the approach between polio eradication and the rehabilitation of polio survivors. It was because the eradication of polio took the center stage and all attention were drawn only to prevention which was good but there was nothing set aside to take care of polio survivors. So Beautiful Gate was standing in the gap to ensure that, they ameliorate the suffering of the victims of polio and give them a platform upon which they would rediscover themselves and have a second chance in life. Now, Beautiful Gate has grown passed just working with polio survivors, but has involved in all matters and affairs of people with disabilities.

“And as you may know, the advent of this Covid-19 has turn around the way of doing things all over the world, and this has brought about sufferings largely on families, particularly the downtrodden and the poor. People with disabilities have been worst hit because, jobs have been lost, the economy has nosedive and generally people have been going through severe hardship. This is what prompted the Beautiful gate to intervene” he added.

He also informed that they started first in March /April by provision of food palliative to alleviate the suffering of people during the lockdown. And things have gotten worse between May and now, prices of food and other basic needs have skyrocketed above the reach of many people. So, the Beautiful Gate sees the need to come in to assist by providing food palliatives for people across the length and breadth of Plateau state.

“In May, the Beautiful Gate identified about 1,700 people. And today, we are reaching out to that same number people, that is 1,700 people across the three Senatorial zones of Plateau state. Last Thursday, the Beautiful Gate was in Shandam, where 600 people were given presented palliative, representing one hundred persons per each local government. And today, The Beautiful Gate is here to give seven (700) people palliative, representing the six local government in the Northern zone, including Bokkos, because, their consignment could not be moved to Pankshin for inadequacy of vehicle, so that informed the decision to match Bokkos with the Northern zone”, he informed.

“After here, The Beautiful Gate will be moving to Pankshin to present four hundred (400) people palliative. One hundred each representing the four local government in the central zone, making a total of 1, 700 people in all” he added

The Director of the Beautiful Gate, Chief Ayuba Burki Gufwan, called on other organizations, religious bodies and individuals to extend a helping hand to all the needy within their vicinity and all over the world.

Chief Gufwan also called on the beneficiaries to raise up and live above disability because there is ability in disability, but this ability is only a potential ability, meaning that, unless this ability is developed and harnessed, it will amount to nothing.  

Speaking further, he said that he knows that it is not easy, but the solution is not by sitting down, PWDs should raise up, adapt in any condition and adopt survival measures. He further charges the beneficiaries to put the palliative into good use and he prayed that the palliative should be a blessing to the beneficiaries. He urged them to share a little to others in need around them, as only a hundred benefited in each local government, leaving out much more.

He prayed to God to multiply the little that have been given to a hundred to thousands fold.

The Secretary of Plateau State Disability Right Commission, Mr.  Karl Gurunyen, in his speech at the event welcomed and thanked Beautiful Gate and its partners for their kind gesture, he also welcomed the PWDs community, charging them to be orderly for easy distribution of the palliative.

The Director, The Beautiful Gate Handicapped People Center Jos, Chief Ayuba Burki Gufwan welcomed all the people from each of the local government which include, Jos North, Jos South, Jos East, Bassa, Barkin- Ladi, Riyom, and Bokkos while appreciating God for his grace for making the day a reality.  He also appreciated Conscience International, who made the contribution to support PWDs in this regard.

Rev. Professor Danny Mac-cane, a friend of Conscience International, a great teacher and speaker who have being in Nigeria for the past 29 years welcomed everyone present. He said, they have been associating with Chief Ayuba Burki Gufwan even before The Beautiful Gate Handicapped People Center Jos came into being.  While, talking about Conscience International, he mentioned that they have been working with the organization since 2005.

Stating that Conscience International is the best he knows that have been identifying with needy in the developing countries through resources from developed countries. He added that, this is not the first Conscience International has brought resources to the city, they have brought it through another organization, such as Faith Based Aids Awareness (Initiative). The Association have also brought two large containers loads of medical equipment and supplies worth of millions and millions of Naira for free to Jos University Teaching Hospital (JUTH).

He made it known that, Conscience International is a Christian organization, and the things distributed are from Christians.

He said that he came to represent Conscience International and as well Representing Christ Jesus, who is the head of the Christian faith.

Rev. Professor Danny Mar-kane stated three things about Christ Jesus.

1. Christ Jesus is Concern about the needy.

2. Christ Jesus concern about Teaching People and

3. Jesus is also concern about forgiveness.

He later solicited for prayers for Conscience International.

After the distribution of the palliatives, some beneficiaries spoke to TQM.

Victory Maze, a blind lady said that she is grateful for the palliative given to her and prayed for God’s blessing for those that made it possible.

Mr.  Ayuba Kadiya, a person with physical disability said that with Covid-19 bringing much difficulty and the cost of living going high, the palliative came in good time.

Usaini Abdullahi Usman, a person with albinism while expressing joy over the kind gesture shown to him by beautiful gate called on government to come to the aid of PWDs especially in this time of difficulty.

Maimuna Auwalu, a deaf lady appreciated the Beautiful Gate for the palliative and prayed God to bless the organization.

Asabe Amad, a lady with leprosy said life have not been easy, but they are lucky in Plateau state to have a person like Ayuba Burki Gufwan of the Beautiful Gate who have being coming to their aid.

More pictures of the event:

By Yusuf Kumo

“The tuition fees of the 27 students were immediately paid directly to the Nigerian Law School account and each student will be given a laptop and an upkeep allowance was given to them, to ensure they have a hitch-free session,’’ he added.

The statement said that the cheque for the upkeep allowance was presented last Monday, to the students in the presence of the Director-General of Nigerian Law School, Prof. Isa Hayatu Chiroma at the school’s Headquarters in Abuja.

The Executive Secretary explained that priority is given to quality outcomes targeting the needy in all scholarship awards.

Hassan explained that the Board will the Law School sponsorship and integrate law students into the sponsorship category with its robust foreign and local Postgraduate Scholarship program.

The Executive Secretary revealed that the board has also approved two students with disabilities for foreign scholarship under the Disability Based Scholarship category.

“Umar Mu’azu who has been diagnosed with congenital hearing loss would be sponsored to study MSc in Management of Information Systems while Aminu Musa who has been diagnosed with bilateral lower limb abnormalities secondary to Poliomyelitis would be studying BSc in Computer Science with a Major in Digital Systems Security,” he added.

In his remarks, Professor Chiroma stated that he was impressed with the meticulousness of the Kaduna State Scholarship and Loans Board in contrast with what other states are doing.

“With this Board, transparency and traceability were evident throughout. Kaduna State is not richer than other states; it’s the commitment of the Governor, Mallam Nasir El-Rufai towards education that is evident. We expect nothing less from a man with his pedigree,” he added.

The Secretary of the Council of Legal Studies, Mrs. Elizabeth Max-Uba states that “what impressed me the most is the fact that the sponsorship is not available as a roll call, just because you are from Kaduna State.’’

She noted that when the authorities of Nigerian Law School send a list of indigenes to some state governments, “even those who do not need the assistance crowd the process and small amounts get to all.”

Mrs. Max-Uba however said that in the case of Kaduna State, candidates must demonstrate need by first applying and each one must justify his or her qualification by writing an essay.

Centre for Citizens with Disabilities, a non-governmental organisation, has urged the Independent National Electoral Commission, to make voting easy for Persons with Disabilities (PWDs), in the forthcoming Edo governorship polls.

David Anyaele, the Executive Director of the group, made the plea on Friday in a statement on `An Assessment of INEC Preparations for Edo State Election’ which was conducted by the group in the state.

He also said that such assistance should be accorded women and the elderly.

Anyaele said that the findings from the assessment showed that PWDs, women and the elderly who suffered great exclusion and marginalisation especially during elections might be disadvantaged in the voting process if not prioritised by INEC.

“The year 2020 will be witnessing other off-circle governorship elections in Edo and Ondo states and it is expected that all registered voters would participate actively by coming out to vote for candidates of their choice.

“However, generally, PWDs, women and the elderly are known to be facing several environmental, institutional and attitudinal barriers that can impede on their full participation and contribution to the socio-economic and political development of their society.

“Consequently, many of them suffer many deprivations and denials of their rights, especially voting during elections which have been observed as one among other citizenship rights of PWDs, women and the elderly that are often violated and ignored.

“Hence, many who fall within these groups suffer violation of their rights and disenfranchisement in silence which we expect the INEC to take into cognisance by ensuring equal voting access for all,’’ he said.

He said that the effective participation of no fewer than 500,000 residents, PWDs and the other marginalised groups in Edo would be determined by the level of access and provisions made by INEC.

The executive director urged INEC to ensure the provision of all voting materials as prescribed by both the INEC

Electoral Act 2010 as amended, and the National Disability Act.

“Provision of suitable means of communication, such as Braille, large embossed print or electronic devices or sign language interpretation, or off site voting in appropriate cases should be done by the INEC.

“INEC should ensure polling centres accessibility for physically challenged voters, and ensure that preferences are given in queues while also ensuring strict adherence and compliance with the COVID-19 health protocols,’’ he said.
Anyaele encouraged PWDs to go to polling centres with their personal aides to put them through the voting process and procedure to minimise communication gaps.

He urged the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control, security agencies, and other stakeholders to fully implement health and safety protocols during voting and collation of results.T

By Chris Agbo

Disability Rights Advocacy Center (DRAC) on the 8th and 9th of September, 2020 organized a two-day stakeholders’ meeting on effective response to violence against women and girls with disabilities (WGWDs) in Nigeria.
The meeting which is part of DRAC’s policy-to-practice (P2P) project, supported by the RoLAC program of the British Council and European Union was organized to identify the gaps in the delivery of SGBV services for persons with disabilities, especially women and girls in Nigeria as well as challenges faced by service providers in the delivery of those services to enable DRAC develop a comprehensive toolkit that will provide guidance on Disability Inclusive Service Delivery to all service providers in SGBV response interventions.
 
The Executive Director of DRAC, Dr. Irene Ojiugo Patrick-Ogbogu in her opening remarks said that the project seeks to improve access to justice for women and girls with disabilities while emphasizing that one of the key components of securing justice for women and girls with disabilities is to ensure that they have access to sexual and gender-based violence services. DRAC has carried out researches in this area such an accessibility audit of criminal justice services in the FCT which showed that when a woman with disability experiences sexual or gender-based violence, it is usually a huge challenge for her to access justice because the service providers within the justice system are not trained on how to handle issues related to person with disabilities. There is also a lot of stigmatization and discrimination in their approach while providing services to persons with disabilities. Furthermore, many women with disabilities are ignorant of their rights to seek redress in cases of SGBV and the type of services that should be provided for them at the facilities. All these show that WGWDs face different forms of barriers while accessing SGBV services, and where barriers exist in service delivery, the implication is that WGWDs are unable to access justice. Therefore, their experiences of violence and abuse continue unabated as acts of violence committed against them go unreported.

Speaking further, she said that the meeting is an important step towards getting inputs from women with disabilities themselves who are on the demand side, and service providers who usually consist of government agencies, stakeholders, CSOs and all others organizations within the justice system to pull all voices together and document what can be done to ensure that programs and interventions are disability inclusive and tailored towards responding to the needs of women and girls with disabilities in Nigeria. The findings would be compiled into a document framework in form of a toolkit to serve as a guide for both service providers and persons with disabilities. This will help WGWDs to know their rights and what justice services are available for them. It will also guide service providers to provide disability-inclusive services, while taking into consideration the peculiar needs of different types of disabilities of WGWDs. In other words, service providers need to be mindful of the diversity and peculiarities that exist within the disability spectrum and consider them while providing services.

The toolkit will be designed around the essential services package using a disability lens to ensure that women and girls with disabilities are able to access and utilize SGBV services on an equal basis with others.

The team of three consultants took the participants through interactive sessions on sexual and gender-based violence, disability inclusion and guiding principles for service providers, including persons with disabilities in sexual gender-based violence before conducting a needs assessment to identify and collect information to better understand the gaps or needs in the current response mechanism and the desired conditions.

The participants through group exercises were also made to analyze practical situations and provided interventions based on some case studies provided by the consultants. They were guided on using the best practices in responding to different situations.

The first day of the meeting engaged organizations of persons with disabilities and other civil society organizations working in the area of SGBV to get their inputs, while the second day brought together the service providers such as relevant government institutions, CSOs and other relevant organizations to also get their perspective. All these inputs would be compiled and carefully synthesized to develop a toolkit that will provide guidance to a wide range of stakeholders on disability inclusive service delivery, towards improving access to justice for women and girls with disabilities in Nigeria.

Not less than 3 persons with disabilities were awarded with Certificate of Appointment as a Justice of the Peace (JP) by Edo State Government.

Mr Ebose Henry, a physical disability, Mr Melody Omosah, and Mr George Osawaru , got this award presented to them on Friday in Benin City, Edo State Capital.

The Award is a recognition by the governor of their contribution to peace keeping through their various noticeable activities in their respective communities.

TQM while congratulating Henry Ebose for the award, he said that he believes that his award came as a result of his doggedness and resolute to constructively push inclusive advocacy activities for pwds across the state without rancour.

Over 100 persons cutting across all works of life and LGAs were beneficiaries of the Award.