Nigerians With Disability Seek Active Involvement In Governance
Center For Citizens With Disability
Nigerians With Disability Seek Active Involvement In Governance . Guardian Saturday, 06 November 2010 00:00 By Joseph Onyekwere Saturday Magazine
AS a young man in 1983, everything was going on well for the chairman of the Spinal Cord Injuries Association of Nigeria (SCIAN), Mr Obiora Ononugbu. He was working in the State House, Lagos, under the then Special Adviser on Economic Matters to former president Shehu Shagari, Prof. Emmanuel Edozie. Of course, like every young man, his dreams were to attain greater heights in the future. But that was not to be. He had a fatal accident while returning from leave along the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway, which broke his spinal cord and changed the course of his life.
“While returning from East, along Lagos-Ibadan expressway, near Lagos, our tyre went off and the driver applied the break and the vehicle somersaulted. I was sleeping when it happened. I woke up the following morning at the hospital and discovered that I couldn’t sit down again. I had to make up my mind that I must live. So, I gathered myself together, accepted the fact that I cannot work again and focused my attention on what I can do,” Ononugbu told The Guardian.
According to Ononugbu, disability can occur to anybody at any time. “Disability does not know class, gender or status. Some of those who survived the October 1 bomb blast in Abuja may have permanently joined the disability group in Nigeria,” he said.
Alex James Esson, a student of the Nigerian Farm Craft Centre for the Blind, Ikeja, is the fifth of the family of nine. The 22-year-old indigene of Nasarawa State was born blind. In fact, out of the nine members of the family, four of them were born blind. “I am totally blank. And it is very surprising because neither my parents nor any of their relations are blind,” he stated. While such situation remains mysterious, Esson refused to be deterred by his sight challenge. He holds a diploma in Special Instructor from the University of Jos.
For 38 years old Fola Success, life has been very unfair to him. His ordeal began when he was just three years old. That was when he was attacked by poliovirus and got crippled. “I was attacked by polio at the age of three and they mistakenly gave me injection and it paralysed some vital organs of my body. This condition has posed a lot of challenge to me. In terms of mobility, it has been very difficult. The major problem I have is that people under rate us because of our condition,” he lamented.
These and many more are the pathetic tales of different kinds of disabled persons who attended this year’s Disability Awareness Week which was held at the Chevron Recreation Centre, Gbagada Lagos between October 19 and 21, 2010.
Organised by the Centre for Citizens with Disabilities (CCD), the three-day progamme afforded the participants, especially the disabled and those who are passionate about disability issues the opportunity to highlight the plights facing the group and proffer solutions.
Speaking on the theme, ‘Nigeria at 50: 2011 General Elections and the Future of Nigerians with Disabilities’, the Minister of Women Affairs and Social Development, Mrs Josephine Anenih disclosed that the Federal Government has put everything in place to accommodate persons living with disabilities who have shown interest in politics.
According to Anenih, who delivered the keynote address, President Goodluck Jonathan has promised to encourage the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and other political parties to allow people with disabilities to enjoy the same goodwill extended to women in politics so that these groups could pick up nomination forms free of charge in view of their special status in the society.
The minister who spoke through the director of rehabilitation in his ministry, Mr Maijama’a Kwassau said the Federal Government has evolved a dynamic rehabilitation policy, which harnesses the potentials of the disabled. “We are also deeply involved in mobilising resources to ensure their effective participation in the economic, social, political and cultural life of this country,” she said.
She stated that her ministry has ensured that international instruments and laws affecting the disabled are domesticated in Nigeria. Her words: “It is on record that since Nigeria’s ratification of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and its optional protocol on May 28, 2007 and October 27, 2008 respectively, the ministry has not relented in her efforts towards ensuring the domestication of the provisions of this instrument into Nigerian laws.” She pointed out that the ministry has recorded many successes in the areas of full compliance with the signed UN convention and protocols.
“On July 14, 2010, the president signed the ILO Convention on the Vocational Rehabilitation and Employment of Disabled No. 159 of 1983. This convention makes provision for employment of persons with disabilities without discrimination”, she stated. She disclosed that the Nigeria Disability Bill 2009 was successfully harmonised by the National Assembly on July 28, 2010 with only presidential assent remaining.
She, therefore, enjoined the disabled community to scale up their advocacy drive by creating awareness among their members on their role in nation building. “They should try as much as possible to henceforth participate actively in all matters of state and national development. I urge them to start by coming out in large numbers to register in the forthcoming voters’ registration exercise by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), secure their voter cards, and come out en masse to vote in credible leaders when election time comes,” she said.
Encouraging the disabled to participate in active politics, she stated: “Those who are politically inclined and wish to exercise their constitutional and legal rights to contest for any political post should please step forward with your ambition. It is legal, lawful and one of your fundamental rights, which cannot be denied. The Federal Government will encourage and support you because your success in this area will guarantee you the need and space in policy and governance issues and ensure that your voice and views also count.”
In his address, the Executive Director of CCD, Mr. David Anyaele said the goal of the organisation is to create awareness on disability issues and build the capacity of participants to live independently and contribute maximally to the socio-economic development of the society while overcoming challenges associated with living with disabilities.
“The wind of 2011 general elections is blowing in the nooks and crannies of Nigeria with different groups aligning and realigning for all inclusive and equal participation in shaping the future of our dearly beloved country and as equal stakeholders, we cannot afford to lag behind this time around,” he declared.
Anyaele said living with physical, sensory, intellectual, or mental health impairments that have long-lasting effect on one’s daily life and activities is an expensive and challenging condition in Nigeria due to limited access to rehabilitation, re-integration and absence of legislation and social security system that improves individual’s living condition and help him to participate in the socio-economic activities in the society.
He implored his colleagues to rise up and articulate viewpoints that can touch the sensibility of the political class so as to be accepted into the mainstream of the political process. “We must not allow INEC or the political parties to discourage us with high cost of application forms to contest elective positions which is capable of sending anyone to criminal tendencies,” he added.
==
Centre for Citizens with Disabilities (CCD) Tel: +234 (0)1 874 5979, (0)805 1977 606 E-mail: cfo...@yahoo.com, in...@ccdnigeria.org Website: www.ccdnigeria.org Address: #8, Ladipo Kuku Street Ikeja, Lagos, NIGERIA. |