by Bulus Bala Izang,
The Qualitative Magazine with support from Oxfam Voice Nigeria on Tuesday 10th November, 2020 organized a one day capacity building workshop for persons with disabilities in Plateau state on Disability Rights with the theme ( the need for persons with disabilities to know their rights and how to report rights violation).
In his opening address, the Executive Director, The Qualitative Magazine, Mr. Chris Agbo Obiora, welcomed all the participants which includes members of various cluster groups that constitutes persons with disabilities community on the Plateau.
The workshop which is aimed at educating participants on the rights of persons with disabilities on the Plateau as it contains in various laws nationally and internationally levels.
The workshop is part of The Qualitative Magazine “Connecting Our Voices to the World Project being supported by Voice Nigeria.
Mr. Chris wished the participants a fruitful out come at the workshop.
The first resource person at the workshop, Barr. Yusuf Iyodo, a person with physical disability and the director, Media and Publicity, Association of Lawyers with Disabilities (ALDIN) in his paper with the titled “Relevant Laws on Disability, Knowing your Rights as a Person with Disability and the need to advocate for your Right”
On the relevant laws , Barr. Iyodo said that authorities at various levels both International and National have put in place laws that recognized and protect the rights of persons with disabilities , covering as much as possible all aspect of human lives.
At the international level, he mentioned the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD). He said that the convention promote, protect and ensure the full and equal enjoyment of all human rights and fundamental freedom by all persons with disabilities, and respect for their inherent dignity.
The convention touched areas such as:,
- Women with disabilities
- Children with disabilities
- Accessibility
- Right to life
- Equal recognition before the law
- Freedom from exploitation, violence and Abuse
- Education
- participation in political and public life
- Work and employment
- Health
- personal mobility
- living Independently and being included in the community.
- Freedom of expression and opinion
- Access to information, among others ,are put in place to ensure the rights of persons with disabilities.
He also viewed another law at the international level that is protecting the rights of persons with disabilities, which is the region law of Africa (The African Disability Protocol). This law incorporates the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.
The facilitator said that in Nigeria, we have similar laws at the national and states levels
The Discrimination Against Persons with Disabilities (Prohibition) Act, 2018 at the national level is an act that provides for the full integration of persons with disabilities into the society, ensuring that a person with disability shall not be Discriminated against on the ground of his/her disability by any manner or circumstance.
At the state level, the Plateau state Disability Law is the first in the country as well as the first to establish a Disability Right Commission to guide and protect these rights of persons with disabilities.
He stated that the Plateau state Disability law is the most detailed and more clear law, even more detailed than the National law.
All these laws recognized that the Discrimination against any person on the basis of his/her Disability is a violation of the inherent dignity worth of the human person, he added.
He asked “with all these laws put in place”, what is the persons with disabilities doing to ensure that , they do not just remain laws gathering dust at the shelves, but become a practical exercise in their lives.
He stressed the fact that for the laws to be fully operational, it is dependent on the persons with disabilities themselves.
They have to exercise actively these laws daily, for the rest of the society to also come to terms with these laws daily.
For example.
= Where there is a queue, the law provides that a person with disability shall be attended to first. Unless and until the persons with disabilities take this law and act on it, the society may find it difficult to adjust to them.
= You must act on your right to have access to Physical structures, Information , Transportation, Health care, Justice, etc.
= Where employment is done and at least 5% is not given to persons with disabilities, demand for your rightful 5% place of employment.
= protecting the integrity of the person. The laws provide this for you but until you demonstrate it , the community or society may be slow to implement it in your favour.
The persons with disabilities must ensure that the society comply with these laws.
Barr. Iyodo said that laws are made to be obeyed and followed. The persons with disabilities should be able to push for their rights to be their rights. Don’t remain or suffer in silence(break the silence), talk and act through this, and the community that is ignorant of your rights, will gradually become conscious of the rights of persons with disabilities.
He charged the community of Persons with Disabilities to take the responsibility to advocate for issues concerning themselves to the various segments of the society for a better synergy.
The Disability community need to device means of bringing other professionals from different fields to their meetings, such as Teachers, Health professionals, lawyers, politicians, security personals, Heads of civil and public servants, Media people, Building engineers, Transporters, Architects, Clergymen, Civil societies Traditional rulers, community opinion leaders, market men and women, etc, so that they would have a first hand information on the experience of the persons with disabilities as stakeholders understand the roles and responsibilities on the the rights of persons with disabilities.
The second resource person at the workshop. Mr. Joshua Yenle, a visual impaired person, a radio producer and presenter with Radio Nigeria, Highland FM, Jos.
In his paper titled, Use of Mass Media in advocating for Disability rights in Plateau state, Mr. Yenle said that the mass media as the forth realm of the government is also a creation of the law, and as such operations within the confined of the law.
The media as a mouth piece of the society and an agent of change, it will only work for you ,if you decided to make use of it.
What makes the Mass media to work for you is your ability to present your case in a manner that it will make sense to others not your ability to abuse anybody.
The Mass Media is use to influence the society to behave in a particular desired way by an effective user. So when the persons with disabilities on the Plateau, and indeed Nigeria decide to make use of the mass media effectively, they will drive home their goals of enjoying the rights which have been given to them by the law.
He gave examples of two mass media that are Disability friendly,
Radio Nigeria, Highland FM Jos has a program called “society for all” specially designed for persons with disabilities, the only Radio station, he knows, for now to be doing that on the Plateau.
The second mass media, he mentioned, is The Qualitative Magazine, the magazine that is wholly tailored for Disability matters.
Currently, the magazine with the support of the Voice Nigeria, is taking a tour of all the local government areas of Plateau state, to give voice to persons with disabilities in those areas.
Unfortunately, government at various levels spend so much money, the tax payers money, your money, the persons with disabilities money, to keep the various mass media running, but yet, the persons with disabilities are refusing to put these effective agent of to change into use, to correct their not so good situation around.
Mr. Yenle, call on the community of Persons with Disabilities on the Plateau to take deliberate steps to changed their negative attitude towards the mass media, if they really want to enjoy those rights that have been given by the various authorities.
Mr. Yenle at the workshop try to give some possible reason, why persons with disabilities don’t make effective use of the mass media. they include,
*Fear. Fear make persons with disabilities not to make input in the mass media, the fear of being label as anti society or anti government. But this fear should not be there , the law is the source of our rights, and what we are saying is ,give us these rights. We should not show Fear in this aspects.
- lost of confidence in a system or in oneself. Some may have been contributing in the passed, but because, change appeared not to be happening, they become discouraged. While, some is just the simple act of self belittlement, they may be thinking, what difference can a person like me bring?
- Greed. Some persons or clusters with disabilities only speak out in issues that affected them directly, if they or their cluster don’t stand to gain any thing, they don’t make any input in such issues.
*Pride. Some will not want to be associated with anything disability, even though they are persons with disabilities. these are some reasons among many.
You that is reading this , what reason or reasons, is keeping you from speaking out for the rights of persons with disabilities? Could it be any of the above mentioned reasons?
Mr. Yenle, then put a call to persons with disabilities to:
call or write to mass media, making contributions.
call or write in to mass media, to make their experienced discrimination known.
call or write in to mass media in responses on issues affecting Disability.
The two presentation of the resources persons, have sessions of Questions and Answers.
At the end, the participants, all agreed to go back home and break the silence and stand up for the rights of persons with disabilities in Plateau state, as well as, to stepping down what they have learned at the workshop.
Mr. John Satmak Emmanuel, a physically Challenge person, was presented a tricycle, donated by Rev. Georgia Ugah from Enugu, as a response to his need of a wheelchair, his story was carried by The Qualitative Magazine.
Mr. John Satmak Emmanuel, expressed gratitude to God and to Rev. Georgia Uga for the kind deed shown to him.
Mr. John Satmak Emmanuel collected his tricycle donated to him by Rev. Georgia Ugah
In his closing remarks, the Executive Director of The Qualitative Magazine, Mr. Chris Agbo Obiora rxpressed his appreciation to the people of Plateau state especially, the community of persons with disabilities for their support in various ways being enjoyed by the magazines project of connecting our voices to the world.
He equally thanked Voice Nigeria for their support.
Mr. Chris charged persons with disabilities on the Plateau and in Nigeria as a whole, to break the silence and speak out for and on issues concerning persons with disabilities.
“The participants should go home with the mindset that we have had a workshop that would served as a landmark for greater things to happened” he added.
To women with disabilities, he said, The Qualitative Magazine will continue to give them more coverage, because of the kind of challenges they are facing, calling on them to step down what they have learned in the workshop, saying that it is deliberate that more women were invited to the workshop because of the need to have more women with disabilities speaking up because they suffer more discrimination than their male counterpart.
He finally, wish very participants safe journey.
