By Abayomi Adeshida

A coalition of public-spirited organisations based in the United States of America has appealed to the Federal Government to without further delay, be transparent and be seen to be truthful in implementing the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD), Discrimination Against Persons with Disabilities (Prohibition) Act, 2018, and Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), 2030 Agenda to guarantee the future of the over thirty million Nigerians living with disabilities.

In an open letter addressed to President Muhammadu Buhari over the weekend and obtained by Vanguard in Abuja, the letter signed by the spokesman of the group President/CEO Equal Rights for Persons with Disabilities International, Inc, Chief Eric Ndbuueze Ufom, the group observed that the deliberate refusal to ignore all known solutions to the problems of the Nigerians living with disabilities would adversely affect the achievements of the sustainable development goals as set out by the United Nations.

In the letter which were copied many world leaders, the group affirmed that, “We the Nigerian-Americans with Disabilities Living in the United States and our Disabled Peoples Organizations (DPOs), Equal Rights for Persons with Disabilities International, Inc., FESTAC-USA, Inc, Kaysom Holding, Inc, and also our allies, moves to humbly and respectfully DEMAND from you to please Sir, “LET MY PEOPLE GO,” due to the following valid, arguable and verifiable reasons.

” Please Sir, because of our well documented truthful, valid, debatable and verifiable statement of fact(s), this letter is being written, as an ‘OPEN LETTER’ and also, ‘CARE OF’ several High-Level International bodies and News Media.

“With due respect, please Sir, note that the freedom, destiny, health and safety of over 31 million Nigerians with Disabilities, are in our hands. We are very angry and don’t owe you or anybody apology for our non-violence actions.

It is also because per our more than 2 decades direct experience dealing, advocating and negotiating with the Federal Republic of Nigeria’s President Olusegun Obasanjo, Late President Umaru Musa Yar’adua, and President Goodluck Jonathan, during the UN 8th Sessions Ad Hoc Committee on a Comprehensive and Integral … International Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Rights and Dignity of Persons with Disabilities [A/RES/60/232], including when you signed into law the, Discrimination Against Persons with Disabilities (Prohibition) Act, 2018, it was only when we go public that all of you responded, but still grossly continued violating the UN CRPD, Article 4 – General obligations (4.3), while reluctantly answering to us”, the group stated.

Continuing in the same letter, the group said, Sir, as we unapologetically, continue following the positive footsteps, vision and mission of our predecessor and father of advocacy, the ADAPT-USA’s, community, Mr. Wade Blank, who said, “Anger is the Root of all Advocacy Efforts,” we are very ANGRY. ”

“Therefore Sir, because we have valid reasons to be angry, within the next 30 days and beyond, we will be engaging ourselves into several, non-stop massive, non-violence, workable tools, advocating, negotiating and DEMANDING from you to please, “LET MY PEOPLE GO” (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AbAStbavOK4).

If you fail to without further delays address our valid concerns by establishing an independent, Implementation Commission, which will guarantee, FREEDOM for 31 million Nigerians with Disabilities and “LETTING MY PEOPLE GO,” Disability-Inclusive Development, National annual Budgets and SDGs, 2030 agenda, we will, (a) Start the Process of filling official grievance to the United Nations Secretary-General; United Nations Secretarial for the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD); United Nations Security Council; International Disability Alliance (IDA); United Nations Committee for the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD), United Nations Office of the High Commission on Human Rights (OHCHR), pursuant to the, UN CRPD, (a) Article 4 – General obligations; (b) Article 5 – Equality and non-discrimination; (c) Article 11 – Situations of risk and humanitarian emergencies; (d) Article 12 – Equal recognition before the law; Article 13 – Access to justice; (e) Article 16 – Freedom from exploitation, violence and abuse (f) Article 32 – International cooperation; (g) Article 29 – Participation in political and public life ; (h) Article 33 – National implementation and monitoring; (i) Article 35 – Reports by States Parties and (k) Article 37 – Cooperation between States Parties and the Committee.

” Please Sir, note that the ongoing Covoronovirus (COVID-19) Pandemic is a new World ORDER, which came with anger, to permanently change and correct the World’s Community’s wrong doings against, over 31 million Nigerians and one billion persons with disabilities worldwide.

Sir, with due respect, COVID-19 pandemic clearly exposed, more than one century’s old (1914 amalgamation of Nigeria by the British), continued, Injustice, marginalization, discriminations, torture, lack of disability-inclusive development, national/states annual budget, etc…, against Nigerians with Disabilities, by the National Assembly, Federal Republic of Nigeria, Governors, members of the House of Assemblies and local Government Chairmen of the 36 states of Nigeria, to include FCT, Religious Groups, Kings (with the exception of Nri Kingdom of Anambra State) and others.

“Sir, with due respect, COVID-19 pandemic clearly exposed how the Federal Republic of Nigeria, President Muhammadu Buhari and his administration, knowingly or deliberately and intelligently, conspired with each other, has failed, to be truthful in implementing the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD), Discrimination Against Persons with Disabilities (Prohibition) Act, 2018, and Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), 2030 Agenda”, the body stated.

Religious leaders who were copied with the letter included His Holiness, Pope Francis in the Vatican City; The Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, Worldwide Anglican Communion, Lambert Palace London; both The Most Rev’d Archbishop Foley Beach, Chairman and The Most Rev’d Archbishop Dr. Benjamin Kwashi, General Secretary, GAFCON Global Anglicans, Kingston Road, Surrey UK and His Eminent Dr Samson Ayokunle, President, Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), Garki, Abuja, FCT Nigeria.

Other world leaders who also got copies of the letter included Mr. António Guterres, United Nations Secretary-General, New York; Dr. Amina J. Mohammed, United Nations Deputy Secretary-General, New York as well as His Excellency Ambassador Prof. Tijjani Muhammad-Bande, President of the United Nations 74th Session of the General Assembly, New York. Similarly, Ms. Michelle Bachellet Jeria, High Commissioner Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) was sent a copy in Geneva, Switzerland. (Vanguard)

As part of the effort to cushion the negative effects of the COVID-19 lockdown, Ogun State Government has distributed relief materials to orphanage homes, physically challenged persons and widows of soldiers killed by Boko Haram insurgents.

Handing over the materials on behalf of the State government at the Stella Obasanjo Children’s Home, GRA, Ibara, in Abeokuta on Monday, Olufunmilayo Efuwape, the Commissioner for Women Affairs and Social Development, said that the gesture was to assure them that they were not forgotten at this trying period.

“We are reaching out to the orphanages, physically challenged and the widows, especially to those who lost their husbands to the current war against insurgency.

“The physically challenged people and those who are poor and vulnerable cannot work like able-bodied people. This is one of the ways we are reaching out and getting food across them to let them know that this government is for the people and is ready to serve them”, she noted.

Efuwape while assuring that the relief materials would get to those they were meant for, added that the first 100,000 out of the 500,000 packages had been sent out, saying that another batch would be out this week.

“I want to appeal to our people to stay at home. No need to run after people distributing the materials. We will bring these materials to your doorsteps because this government is out to serve you”, the Commissioner appealed.

Receiving the materials on behalf of his colleagues, the State Chairman, Joint National Association of Persons with Disability, Olalekan Mohammed, said the gesture was a reflection of the inclusive policy of the government, devoid of discrimination.

“We are happy that the State Governor has kept his promise by including people with disabilities into his agenda without discrimination. It indicates inclusion in every ramification”,

He appealed to his members to come out from their hiding places, as the government was ready to support them live a happy and fulfilled life, noting that disability was a circumstance that could be overcome.

Speaking in the same vein, the co-ordinator, Nigerian Wives Association, (an umbrella of wives of deceased soldiers), Alamala Barracks, Patient Okon Abang, lauded the State government for not leaving them out in the scheme of things, saying that the relief materials would assist in cushioning the effects of the lockdown in their families.

Gideon Orphanage, Abeokuta, also benefitted from the relief materials which included bags of rice, sugar, salt, cartoons of spaghetti and noodles, among others. (Business Day)

The Edo State Government has said it has concluded plans to commence distribution of relief packages to vulnerable persons in the state to cushion the effects of the stay-at-home directives to prevent the spread of coronavirus (COVID-19) in the state.

Addressing journalists at the Edo State Food Bank, in Benin City, Chairman, Edo Development and Property Agency (EDPA), Isoken Omo, said officials at the facility are repackaging items received by the state government for onward distribution to poor and vulnerable persons.

She said, “Our targets are vulnerable persons, destitute, the less privileged and persons with physical disabilities. The people who are really in need of the items and who the stay-at-home order has adversely affected are also going to receive these materials. Governor Godwin Obaseki, in his wisdom, decided to provide food to thousands of families in Edo State and we are here to coordinate the efforts.

According to her, “We have several relief materials to be distributed. They include rice, beans, garri, palm oil, millet, tomatoes pastes, noodles, detergents, soaps, face mask, hand gloves, sanitizers among others.”

She added that the channel of distribution will be announced by the governor and the information will be passed across to the people on how they will get the relief packages in due course, noting, “People do not need to rush out or leave their houses. Information will be communicated on when and how they will get their packages.

“The relief package factories where our items are being repackaged have been set up across the three senatorial districts in Edo North, Edo Central, Edo South.”(leadership)

Going by intensive advocacy embarked upon by the Organisation of Persons with Disabilities(OPDs) demanding their inclusion in the social register because they are most hit by the pandemic, The Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development, Sadiya Farouq, Monday at the daily briefing by members of the Presidential Task Force on COVID-19 has accepted to expand the national social register when she said:“We are working on the rapid expansion of the register. It is not a day job, but we have started the process. Our main focus now will be on the urban-poor because these are people who have become vulnerable as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic and the lockdown.
“We will also be focusing on Persons With Disabilities (PWDs). Though we have some of them currently in our register, we will focus more on registering the people with special needs.”

Also at the briefing, she disclosed the Federal Government resolve to hand over relief materials intended for the vulnerable across the country to governors for ease and seamless distribution.

Following complaints and controversies surrounding the distribution of cash to the beneficiaries, she also said that plans are on the way to introduce electronic transfer system in the payment of beneficiaries of the Conditional Cash Transfer and others under the National Social Investment Programme (NSIP). “We agree that the process looks very cumbersome and for the purpose of accountability and transparency, the ministry has begun the digitalisation of this process. We have four pilot states that are on digital payment so far and we are continuing with that.

On disbursement of cash to poor and vulnerable households, she said: “We give them N5,000 per month and now that Mr. President has directed that we give two months advance, this is why we are giving them N20,000.

On the distribution of relief materials to the vulnerable, she said: “Going forward, we have decided that we are going to be handing over food relief to the governors for onward distribution to the poor and vulnerable in their states. We have started already. I was in Lagos and Ogun states last week and I handed over trucks of relief items to the governors.

“So far, we have reached out to the three affected states that have been locked down by the Federal Government, including the FCT. We have also sent food relief to Imo and Ebonyi states.”

“We hope that in the next payment, we will be able to do half of the states of the federation.

“We are also using phones, mobile wallets and the BVNs of the beneficiaries where it exists because it is not all the beneficiaries that are on the banking system.” She said.

Ugwuanyi had made available items including bags of Coal City brand rice, bags of maize and millets, cartons of noodles, assorted beverages, cartons of soft drinks, tomato paste, seasonings and bottles of water.

Public Relations Officer of Association of the Blind in Enugu State, Mr Jonathan Nwafor, receiving palliative items at Udenu Local Government Area of the state on Monday, commended the governor for the provision.

Nwafor described Ugwuanyi as God-sent, and a special gift to the people of the state, especially the vulnerable and needy.

He said that Ugwuanyi, through the stimulus package, again, demonstrated his immense love for the vulnerable.

“Please, extend our sincere gratitude to the governor and tell him that we appreciate this gesture; that we are praying for him, and that we shall continue to ask God to preserve him and provide for him,’’ Nwafor said.

Similarly, the State Coordinator, Disability Support Forum for Gburugburu (DSFG), Mr Chuka Eze, also appreciated the governor’s gesture.

“In the history of Enugu State, even under the old Anambra State, PWDs have never felt recognized and cared for like under Ugwuanyi’s dispensation.

“The governor is really a God-sent to us, and to Enugu State, in general. He always puts smiles on our faces and we are grateful to God for that,’’ Eze said.

Earlier, Special Adviser to the Governor on Education, Dr Kingsley Udeh, said that the governor had instructed that the items “must be distributed directly to the beneficiaries and nobody would receive any item by proxy’’.

Udeh enumerated other PWDs clusters to receive the palliatives, including Oji River, Agbani, Udi, Awgu and Enugu City.

He said that the Udenu centre would cover Udenu and Igbo-Eze North Local Government Area clusters.

“His Excellency targeted PWDs for this special exercise, because they are the most vulnerable in the prevailing emergency situation, which is the lockdown over the coronavirus pandemic.

“Many of these people (PWDs) survive by daily charity they receive from spirited individuals and they have now been constrained to stay at home.

“But as a concerned governor and in his usual compassion, His Excellency has given you relief materials and delegated me to supervise and ensure that they are judiciously shared among the real target recipients across the state,” he said.

Udeh, who doubles as the State Focal Person for Open Government Partnership, did not disclose the monetary value of the palliative items, but noted that several millions of naira had been spent for the exercise statewide.(NAN)

The Lagos State Chapter of Joint National Association of Persons with Disabilities, JONAPWD has commended the Lagos State Government for its efforts to ensure persons with disabilities in Lagos are provided with relief packages to help cushion the effect of the lockdown as a way to contain the spread of coronavirus.

In a press statement issued by the State Chairman, Dr. Adebukola Adebayo, on Sunday, April 12, he disclosed that there has been much update in the reactions of the Lagos State Government as to the publication by The Sun Online.

In the statement issued, he confirmed that the interview was granted to The Sun Newspapers on Monday, 30^th of March before the commencement of the lockdown and positive changes have been recorded as a result of advocacies and positive engagement with the Lagos State Ministry of Agriculture.

“As we speak, food and other relief materials from Lagos state government and other private donors have reached over 3000 PWDs within the last 14 days”

Dr. Adebayo said, “as we speak, food and other relief materials from Lagos state government and other private donors have reached over 3000 PWDs within the last 14 days.

“This has been as a result of increased advocacy and partnerships between the Lagos state chapter of JONAPWD, disability associations, mainstream CSOs with the State government.”

He disclosed that JONAPWD and partners have been working with Ministry of Agriculture to help in the distribution of food packages to PWDs across the state, “So far, we have reached 14 LGAs; Ikeja, Ifako-Ijaiye, Agege, Alimosho, Koshofe, Ikorodu, Surulere, Lagos Isalnd, Lagos Mainland, Mushin, Oshodi-Isolo, Ojoo, Amuwo-Odofin and Ajeromi Ifelodun. This week, from Tuesday, we will be going to Badagry, Epe, Apapa, Shomolu, Eti-Osa and others. We had some shortfalls in some Local Governments like Surulere, Agege and Ikeja, which we also intend to complete.”

Dr. Adebayo, who noted that it is imperative to commend the Lagos State Government for its quick response to the needs of Persons with Disabilities in the state at a time like this, disclosed the number of persons reached is no adequate.

“While the population of PWDs reached is still too insignificant compared to the nearly 2 million population of PWDs in Lagos state, the state chapter of JONAPWD expected that more would be down so that all PWDs across the state can be adequately catered for.

The JONAPWD Chair explained that, “at the end of the day, I foresee we might be reaching out to about 5000 PWDs or more before the lockdown is over, we are also hoping that our private sector partners will also work with us to raise the number of PWDs that will be reached at the end of the day.

“Lagos-JONAPWD is appealing to the Lagos state government and all its partners not to relent, but to kindly do more to help bring more relief to the millions of PWDs in Lagos state as this lock-down continues.”

He appreciated the “Sanwoolu led administration, the Ministries of Agric, Youth and Social Development, Office of Disability Affairs, as well as our CSO partners including Festus Fajemilo Foundation, Daughters of Charity, EDWIN, Iyaniwura, Speaking Fingers, Project Enable Africa, Sight Savers Nigeria, Lagos State Civil Society Partnership (LACSOP), Ibile Foundation and the Media for their tremendous contributions thus far.

written By  Blessing Oladunjoye

By Blessing Oladunjoye

Lagos has been identified as one of the places in the world vulnerable to the impacts of climate change. The Maplecroft’s Climate Change Vulnerability Index places the bustling Nigerian city (along with locations in Yemen, Haiti, United Arab Emirates, Kiribati and Philippines) at “extreme” risk.

This is especially because its (Lagos) population is expanding rapidly, and it is considered to be a major economic engine for the West African region.

This is evident through the impacts of climate change which include rising temperature, more intense and frequent weather events and sea level rise. Due to Nigeria’s population, the consequences are increased water and food shortages, higher exposure to heat stress and ultraviolet radiation. Researchers have provided evidence that climate change events affect all aspects of human life, especially the social and environmental determinants of health, clean air, safe drinking water and food security.

The consequences of climate change on human health could be direct and indirect and could also be increasing the population of persons with disabilities in the state. Usually, it is perceived that accidents, birth deformity or hereditary are the major channels of acquiring partial or permanent impairments, but climate change is also in its way worsening the situation and adding to the population of persons with disabilities.

PWDS and Climate Change

Persons with Disabilities (PWDs) have various clusters as identified by its national body, the Joint National Association of Persons with Disabilities (JONAPWD). These clusters include – Blind, Deaf, Physically Challenged, Intellectual (Down Syndrome, Autism, etc.), Spinal Cord Injury, People with Albinism, Dwarf and Leprosy.

Speaking on the impact of climate change on persons with disabilities, Daniel Otti, Person with Albinism, explained: “Climate change causes extreme heat and the higher temperature means higher emission of UV Radiation which attacks the skin cells without enough melanin for protection causing cancer. Therefore, climate change increases the incidence of cancer for persons with albinism.”

For her part, Folakemi Aje, a physically challenged said that climate change is impacting negatively on PWDs most especially because they cannot access immediate help or interventions in cases of emergencies because of their disability. She explained that, “during heavy rains and floods where the road is muddy, someone using crutches or walking cane would find it difficult to access major locations and would definitely be secluded from any intervention programmes.”

To ensure that the Lagos State Climate Policy caters for the various disabled persons in the state, Aje said there is need to involve all the disability clusters because they know what intervention is most appropriate to the various disability needs.

Opeyemi Adewale, a blind lady, narrates her ordeal during environmental disasters, saying: “As a visually impaired person, accessing road networks during heavy rains and floods in Lagos is usually a tug of war. Most times, you step into flood water or muddy area and even fall into open drainages because you cannot navigate very well within the area.

“It is worse because sometimes it affects our productivity at work. We are still advocating for formal employment for PWDs and climate change is making it difficult for the few employed ones to access the work environment, this is further reinforcing one of the major barriers confronting PWDs.”

Climate Change Policy in Lagos

In an interview with Mr. Bankole Michael, Head of Department, Climate Change and Environmental Planning, Ministry of the Environment and Water Resources, he confirmed that various stakeholders were engaged during the development of the Climate Change Policy of Lagos State in 2015 during the Babatunde Raji Fashola’s administration.

Mr. Bankole, who said the department had a liaison officer for the Lagos State Office of Disability Affairs (LASODA), could not confirm categorically if the disability community was among the stakeholders engaged during the policy formation.

He said: “Our policy is encompassing, it might not mention PWDs verbatim but our approach covers all because we are looking at climate change adaptation, climate change mitigation and the cross cutting issues where we have the education, training and public awareness. Everybody within the state and those planning to come into the state has been taken into consideration.”

Checking for the disability component in the policy, it was confirmed that Chapter 4 of the drafted policy subtitled: “Gender and Other Social Considerations” captured the physically challenged which however does not suffice for all disability groups.

Mr. Bankole confirmed that, before the Policy would be made public, there would be adequate review to meet up with the current realities as regards climate change, adding that persons with disabilities will be included.

“Before making it public, the Climate Change Policy needs to be reviewed to suit current realities, for instance the Paris Agreement which has given some mandates to nations and we need to be mindful of that. In doing this, we will carefully consider the engagement of Persons with Disabilities”, he added.

He also noted that the annual international summit on climate change, which is expected to be resuscitated soon, would ensure that PWDs are brought to the fore of the conversation as it affects them.

Neglecting PWDs in Climate Change Discourse

Dr. Adebukola Adebayo, Chairman, Lagos State Chapter of the Joint National Association of Persons with Disabilities (JONAPWD), explained that members of the disability community are usually being excluded in the formation of policies that affect them.

He said: “There is no awareness on the part of these stakeholders to engage PWDs because they are being affected by climate change.” He also noted that PWDs do not have the adequate capacity to advocate for inclusive climate change policy.

Mr Matepo Wahab, Head, Spinal Cord Injury Association of Nigeria (SCIAN), Lagos State Chapter, said persons with spinal cord Injury are usually affected by harsh temperature which is one of the effects of climate change.

He explained: “Our temperature as persons with spinal cord injury does not align with that of other people because our spinal cord has been affected and there is no communication with the brain to adapt to the current temperature such as extreme cold and when there is heat, we feel extremely hot. Oftentimes, we sweat when others are not sweating, this means we feel the impact of climate change much more than the able bodied.”

Wahab reiterated that it is of essence that the disability groups are adequately engaged in the development of the Climate Change Policy in the state so it can cater for all. He also spoke on the need to have accurate data of persons with disabilities in the state for the purpose of emergencies, to ensure there’s adequate provision to evacuate PWDs.

Way Forward – Achieving SDG 13

The Sustainable Development Goal 13 which seeks to take urgent action to combat climate change cannot be achieved if one billion people, or 15% of the world’s population (according to the World Bank Group, have experienced some form of disability) are secluded from the climate change discourse which affects them to a very large extent.

To ensure no-one is left behind in addressing climate change issues in Lagos, Dr. Adebayo said: “Only a policy-driven multi-stakeholder approach can effectively open doors and break down most of the barriers which exclude PWDs from participating in, and benefiting from climate change and emergency management programmes and policies of government.

“All relevant MDAs of the Lagos State Government need to come together under a technical working group to ensure that PWDs are effectively mainstreamed in these very critical policy areas.”

Dr. Adebayo also spoke on key areas of relevance on climate change to PWDs as he urged the Lagos State Emergency Management Agency (LASEMA) to engage with communities of PWDs for the purpose of awareness creation, enlightenment and capacity-building, as well as preparedness for unexpected situations.

Speaking on Children and Women with Disabilities, he said: “There is no evidence to show that our children with disabilities in Lagos State Inclusive and Special Schools are engaged in extracurricular activities on climate change and emergency management, these children need such education because oftentimes, this is where exclusion begins.

“Also, women with disabilities are often worse affected when climate change or natural disasters destroy means of livelihood. While it is sometimes easier for non-disabled women to get back into life after disasters, women with disabilities often never survive because they are neither included in most post-disaster relief programmes nor in the regular women empowerment programmes. Therefore, there’s a need for inclusion at all levels of intervention programmes.”

He also urged the media, policymakers and other experts on climate change, emergency management and other related issues to be consciously aware of the fact that PWDs also need to be informed about these issues.

“As such when designing advocacy, public enlightenment and other communication materials, specific needs of PWDs should be considered. It is important that designers of these materials should understand the various disability-based information accessibility needs.

“We should know that billboards will not serve the blind; radio will not serve the deaf; information written or spoken in very complex English will not serve those with intellectual disabilities; PWDs with lower literacy levels will require interpretations in local languages; etc,” he said.

Another factor to look at in bridging the disability inclusion gap is by resuscitating the Annual Summit on Climate Change in the state with adequate representation from the disability community to give reasonable inputs as it may affect them.

by Chris Agbo

The Daughters of Charity Coordination office for the Child Empowerment programme in Nigeria expressed joy and gratitude over the donation of mobility appliances and educational equipment by the Federal Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development in January 2020, The educational equipment which comprise 24 Manual Typewriters, 7 Slates and Styluses, 10 Talking Calculators and 10 Talking Wristwatches, are for the use of persons with visual disability in the catchment areas of the Daughters of Charity and her partner organizations. The Mobility aids received were 30 Guide Canes, 50 pairs of Crutches and 5 Walking Sticks.

Sr. Fidelia Unigwe, the programme coordinator of child empowerment programme, in a statement released to The Qualitative Magazine, appreciated the Honourable Minister of the Federal Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development, Hajia Saddiya Umar Farouk, for the donation which will improve the quality of life of the beneficiaries. The gesture is a morale booster for the Daughters of Charity in their effort to empower persons with disabilities in Nigeria.

She expressed commitment, in accordance with the set standard of the organization, to ensure that the items reach the neediest so that the purpose will be achieved.

PICTURES OF THE ITEMS IN DIFFERENT VIEWS:

by Christy Anyanwu

In normal times, life was not easy for people with disabilities (PWD). With the coming of COVID-19, and the consequences it has unleashed, life for PWDs is now more terrible.   

In this period of tension and anxiety, when the federal and state governments are taking palliative steps to cushion the effects of the worsening pandemic, PWDs are deeply worried that members of the physically challenged community are not being taken into consideration, given that no special provisions have been made for their welfare. Among the sizeable population of PWDs are people with cerebral palsy, spinal cord injury, albinism, Down syndrome, the blind, deaf, among others, who should have been accorded special attention.

Expressing their disappointment and frustration over the trend, some of them who reached out to Sunday Sun on telephone lamented their seeming abandonment to fate as the lockdown came into force last week.

Speaking on the plight of the PWDs, Lagos State Chairman, Joint National Association of Persons with Disabilities(JONAPWD), Dr. Adebukola Adebayo, said nothing was being done for PWDs in the state. His words: “As I’m speaking with you, I just left my house with a colleague, and we are running after the state government to know what it is, they are doing for persons with disability.

As I speak to you, we are unable to even access COVID-19 information being announced by the state. If you are watching your TV now, national programme aired on television is being shown but Lagos, which is the epicenter of this disease is not making any efforts, not even when we have approached them to say that we want to support them to do this, they are not partnering with us, they are not talking to us, so we are the ones running after them to see how we can be included in all of these and that is very, very sad.”

On the issue of relief materials which the Lagos State government said it would give to Lagosians, especially the less privileged, Adebayo said he had not received any information regarding how to get the necessary palliative from the state government. He said: “I’m the leader of the community in the state; I’m not aware or have received any information.

All my people are calling me; the most we have heard is that Lagos State is using the residence registration data to reach out to people. Some of my members have confirmed they have contacted them, but again it is not all PWD members that are captured in the database, so we cannot rely completely on that database for disseminating any relief material. “If we have been engaged, we would have advised on the best step to take in that regard. We go out of our way to look for them despite the sit-at-home order by the Federal Government.

We all know that PWDs are the mos vulnerable because many disabilities are based on pre-existing health conditions such as albinism.You have those with various intellectual disabilities, spinal cord injuries, cerebral palsy and Down syndrome, among other conditions. COVID-19 can fester easily with such people and because they are human beings and they have right, it is good we are consulted to be able to fashion out ways to go about this.”
  
Pointing out that information on COVID-19 is not accessible to the deaf and the blind, Adebayo said:
Sometimes the numbers are displayed on TV and nobody is reading them out to these people. There are no sign language interpreters and even aids for the blind to see. There are a whole lot of challenges for persons living with disability.

Ironically, Lagos State has a Disability Law and an agency that is set up for disability affairs. You can imagine what would happen in states that don’t even have a legal structure in place.”

Speaking in the same vein, founder of the Albino Foundation, Pastor Jake Epelle wondered why the government has not given adequate consideration to PWDs in its response to the pandemic. He advocated that government should get members of the community either by phone or physical meeting and ask them simple questions of what they could do to serve their community.

“The truth is that I spoke with a top government official on the issue of people living with disabilities and his response was, ‘we didn’t remember to specifically do anything for persons with disability; what we are doing is general.’ I told him, what you are doing cannot be general because you don’t know our needs,” Epelle said.

He advised that in the production of information booklet, there should be a life screen for persons with albinism, audio for persons who are blind and sign language format for people who are hard in hearing.   

Epelle said there are special cases where persons on wheelchair are informed not only to clean their hands but to clean their equipment. “Do you understand that if persons
living with disability contract the Coronavirus, it would spread like wildfire because they are already in unhygienic environment and there are situations many of them have their hands on the ground trying to push themselves? Do you know the social issues these would bring up? Already they are discriminated against, nobody wants to go near them; now people will be far away from them.

These people who are already struggling to eat what are the government’s plans so that these people will not die of hunger during this lockdown?” According to him, people with albinism already have radiation problem which affects the immune system, not to talk of people who are down with malignant skin cancers, and if they expose themselves to this virus that would be the end of their case. “There’s one right now; if she drinks water you will see the water going through her throat. It’s a huge problem.

If government is claiming that it has a plan for us let the officials show us the plan. Let me see one thing that is specifically for persons with disability that the government has done that relates to COVID-19. I’m not just a leader, I’m a frontline leader in the community, and if there’s anything they have done we would have known about it,” Epelle said.

He listed strategies that would help to address the issues of PWDs during COVID-19 emergency in the nation. First is the need to reach the PLWD community with the information that they need.

He explained: “We need to educate them in the language that they would understand and the format they would embrace. We need to think of how to use heads of clusters, heads of various sub-groups, and heads of various disability organizations, to reach their communities. If government brings them closer, gives them information that they need, gives them the tools they need to disseminate the information, this information will get
to the rural areas because most of our people are rural dwellers. They are in the villages.

When this thing, God forbid gets to the villages it will wipe them off because there
are no health care facilities. You can imagine that.

“Secondly, government should consider using three powerful institutions to reach them – the church, mosques and traditional religion. These spiritual leaders would empower them through the right medium of information dissemination.

“Thirdly, traditional rulers can spread the information as quickly as possible, through the town crier because some of these people are of the opinion that COVID-19 doesn’t exist. They term it as big man sickness. Who will be there to debunk the truth? We need champions of the community, we need champions of the spiritual leaders, and we need champions of the traditional rulers to pass this information to their subjects.”    

Coordinator of Albino Foundation, Lagos State Chapter and President, Lagos State Albinism Society, Josephine Omolola, buttressed the claims made earlier by her other leaders in the PWD community, saying that there hasn’t been anything done by the government so far in terms of relief materials. She, however, expressed joy that so far, no case of positive COVID-19 test has been recorded among her members.

She pointed out that the Lagos state Chairman of JONAPWD, Dr. Adebukola Adebayo has been giving members feedback on their platforms as regards issues relating to COVID-19 and measures to cushion the effect on the populace.    

Omolola implored the founder of Albino Foundation to collate all the names of people with disability, especially the less privileged one and indigent members that should be given some relief during the crisis period.

“Jake should do that as our president. He should take it up with the Federal Government concerning the relief measures and he should know how to send it to all the states he is coordinating. We have coordinators all over the states. We should make sure the relief materials get to the coordinators in each state and the coordinator will give it to the indigent members,” Omolola said.