People With Disability Demand Inclusiveness, Equality

Persons With Disabilities (PWDs) have called for inclusiveness and equality in order to create enabling environment for the disabled.

At a media roundtable to commemorate the 2018 International Day of Persons with Disabilities in Lagos with the theme: “Empowering persons with disabilities and ensuring inclusiveness and equality” the programs manager of Nigeria Association of the Blind (NAB), Ejiro Okotie, said the event is focused on issues pertaining to inclusiveness of PWDs in the society and ensuring no one is left behind.

According to her “when we talk about inclusion and relating it with PWDs, what comes to mind is ‘they have come again’, but we need to understand that inclusion is everybody’s right. It is not a privilege or for a few individuals. It is a right that every individual should enjoy.”

She said a United Nations report indicate that 15 percent of the world’s population are PWDs and in Nigeria, 29.7 million persons are living with disabilities.

Okotie said, “If we are to bring Nigeria’s statistics down to Lagos State, we have 22 million people living in the state and an estimated 10 percent of that population are PWDs, then it is not a figure to sweep under the carpet. This huge portion of Nigerians cannot be ignored because each person have something to bring to the table.

“It is important to create avenue even in the health sector for PWDs to be able to enjoy their rights and also to give back to the system.”

However, she said PWDs suffer from a lot of issues caused by society such as; infrastructural access as most health facilities are high rise buildings and often do not consider PWDs during construction.

She said information access is another challenge as elevators in Nigeria don’t have Brailles on the walls for the blind. Giving an instance, Okotie said “like when I travelled abroad, I was in the elevator and I missed my way. I was able to find my way through the Braille written on the walls. In that situation, you don’t need the help of anyone because you can find your way to the right floor.”

Okotie said these are big issues that sets PWDs aside as they often dread going to the hospital to access health care in order to avoid being a burden.

Also speaking at the event, the Director, Monitoring and Evaluation, Lagos State Office of Disability Affairs (LASODA), Mr Oguntoye Akintunde Oyewole, said that the agency has written letters to all public institutions in Lagos State to ensure disable-friendly access.

He said it is inhumane for a person with wheel chair not being able to access a building, stressing that it is the essence of inclusiveness as nobody should be left behind.

He however commended the Lagos State government for running an all-inclusive policy which have mandated that all public building must be constructed with ram to promote accessibility for PWDs using wheel chair.

He said Lagos State is currently working on PWDs gainful employment in various organizations, stating that, “a lot of PWDs are unemployed because organizations think they have nothing to offer. They are facing serious discrimination.”

Also lending his voice, Dr. Adebayo Adebukola of LASODA said, “it is election period and persons with disabilities are not left out. It is no longer news that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has developed a disability framework and I was privileged to be part of it.

“Election is not about casting vote, all the processes must be accessible including PWDs. We may not have it all in 2019 but the process is ongoing.

“Let us call on our policy makers, Governors, Local Government Chairmen and find out where and when campaign is holding, also let them know that PWDs have electoral value. If we are convinced that a particular person will give us grant our demand when he gets into office, then we can garner votes by convincing 10 electorates to vote for him.

“Disability is now becoming visible. For the first time in this administration, the president, Mohammadu Buhari has a special adviser on Disability,” Adebukola stated.

He said Lagos is the only State in Nigeria that has an agency on Disability, adding that having an agency is not enough as PWDs should be elected in positions at house of Assembly, government house.

Adebukola stated that, “we can’t get them in to office if we don’t participate in the election process. We have a responsibility, the electoral process has a responsibility. We must take that responsibility.”

The event, which was organised by Journalists Against AIDS (JAAIDS) Nigeria in collaboration with NAB and supported by AMPLIFY CHANGE is implementing a project titled: Voices for Change: Promoting increased uptake of Sexual and Reproductive Health, (SRH) services among People with Disabilities (PWDs) in Lagos State.