Living With Disabilities And Matters Arising

Jude is a cripple. He imagines how he can move around with the challenges of dealing with daily engagements that his condition has made unfriendly.
In most occasions, he has to call people around to open an unyielding door of public convenience.
In other times, it may be how to get off his wheel chair to reach for a desired floor of a storey building. His challenges are numerous.
Every year, he hopes to listen to useful development from stakeholders on how living can be made easier for persons with disability.
Observers note that persons with disabilities demand attention for their inclusion in events and activities within the society in line with international provisions.
This will involve creation of avenues within the health sector that would accommodate key issues concerning their basic human rights.
Programme Manager of the Nigeria Association of the Blind, Ejiro Okotie, says inclusion of persons living with disabilities is a right for everybody and not a privilege.
The National Publicity Secretary of Amalgamated Union of Physically – Challenged Persons in Zamfara, Alhaji Shehu Sarkin-Fada, also observes that lepers and other physically – challenged in the state face isolation and stigmatisation, the situation he describes as “painful’’.
A man in the eastern part of the country living with visual impairment and paralysis says the position of government at all levels and the society are discouraging in that regard, pleading anonymity.
“Government should enact a law providing a reasonable percentage of job placements for people living with physical disabilities in public and private establishments,’’ he says.
Concerned citizens, therefore, observe that the theme of the last International Day of Persons with Disabilities (IDPD) –”Promoting the Participation of persons with disabilities and their leadership: Taking action on the 2030 development Agenda”, is purposeful.
According to them, the yearly observance of the day has not been promising as the last edition, going by the sensitisation and actions by stakeholders to effect a change.
For instance, Speaker of the House of Representatives, Femi  Gbajabiamila, calls on different arms of government to make intentional efforts to promote accessibility of persons with disabilities.
He notes that the observance of the day will enable the government to focus on taking action in line with the United Nations 2030 Development Agenda.
“Of all the objectives set out in the agenda, there is none more urgent, more demanding of our commitment and effort, than that which requires us to jointly seek and achieve a drastic reduction in inequality.
“To achieve equal participation, we must be intentional about promoting accessibility.
“As we promote access to education by building schools and hiring teachers, we must make sure also that those classes are accessible to wheelchair users and the seeing impaired are provided with learning tools that work for them,’’ he said.
With this pronouncement from the National Assembly, many governments, civil society organisations and other private sector are beginning to take the lead in supporting the inclusion of persons living with disabilities in global, regional, national and local activities.
In Enugu State, Mr Gab Nnamani, Chairman of Joint National Association of Persons Living with Disabilities, Enugu Chapter People Living with Disabilities (PLWDs), calls for immediate domestication of the National Disability Law in the state to enhance the living condition and opportunities available to their members.
“We are committed to pursuing the domestication of the law in Enugu State and we will not relent in our efforts to do that,’’ Nnamani said.
The chairman also called on the state government to ensure access of PLWDs to public building and places in order to enhance their participation in state and national programmes and events.
In his opinion, Prof. Jibrin Diso from the Department of Special Education, Bayero University, Kano, observes that inclusion of persons with special needs in public affairs and services in the country will bring a lot of change in the life of the persons with disabilities.
He notes that the nation’s education system, which is the cornerstone of transforming the individual citizen into a veritable human capital, the needs of persons with special needs are seldom considered, stressing  that public facilities are rarely built with people with special needs in mind.
For effective inclusion in programmes, Mr Kola Ogunbiyi, Programme Manager of Centre for Citizens with Disabilities, calls on Enugu State government to pass and domesticate the persons with disabilities’ law.
According to him, the law will make the physically- challenged partake fully in activities of government and other activities.
Similarly, the Senate has urged the Federal Government to fully implement the provisions of the Discrimination against Persons with Disabilities (Prohibition) Act 2018.
It also urged the Ministry of Works and Housing and other government agencies involved in infrastructure and public buildings to adopt codes and standards that were user-friendly to PLWDs.
Nigeria ratified the United Nations  (UN) Convention on the  Rights of People  With Disabilities (CRPD) in 2007 and its Optional Protocol in 2010.
However, it was only on Jan. 23, 2019, that President Muhammadu Buhari signed into law the Discrimination Against Persons with Disabilities (Prohibition) Act 2018 after nine years of relentless advocacy by disability rights groups and activists.
Chukwuemeka is of the News Agency of Nigeria.