This is to create awareness about the Discrimination against persons with disabilities( Prohibition) Act 2018. We will be publishing it in episodes as it was summarized by Disability Rights Advocacy Centre (DRAC).
DO YOU KNOW THAT PART I :PART II – EASE OF MOVEMENT
- A Person with disability has the right to enter any place just like other persons, without anything blocking their movement.
2. Every public building shall ensure that lifts, ramps and any other thing that shall help persons with disabilities enter and move around freely are p u t i n p l a c e w h e n building.
3. All road-sides, overhead bridges, and other special things as listed at the end
of the Disability Act shall be made easy for persons with disabilities to use.
4. There is a five-year period of grace from when this law was made, for all public buildings to correct their structures so as to make it easy for Persons with disabilities to enter and move around.
5. Before any structure is built, its plan must first pass through the office that will make sure it follows the building code.
a) Any building that does not include the easy movement of Persons with disabilities in its plan will not be approved by the government.
b) Any person that approves or asks someone to approve a building plan that is not in line with the building code has committed an offence and will pay a fine of N1,000,000 or go to prison for two years or both.
6. Based on Number 5 above, if a Person with disability goes to any public place he/she has a right to be in, and is unable to move freely because some things are blocking his/her movement, he/she may complain to the office in charge about the issue and they will make sure that such things are removed immediately. This does not stop the person with disability from taking the management of the place to court.
If the office in charge, receives a complaint from a Person with disability as mentioned in number 6 above, but fails to do anything about it, they have committed an offence.
a) If it is an organization, they will pay the affected person the sum of N10,000 for each day from when the complaint was made.
b) If it is an individual, they will pay the affected person the sum of N5,000 for each day from when the complaint was made or go to prison for 6 months or both.
Responsible Bodies: Federal Ministry of Works, Power and Housing, Federal Ministry of Land, Housing and Urban Development, Council for the Regulation of Engineering in Nigeria (COREN), Organizations of Persons with Disabilities, Civil Society Organizations, The Media and others
