Respite For The Physically Challenged?

Everything should be done to ensure that the law is enforced

Following its passage after more than a decade in the National
Assembly and needless controversy on its transmission, President
Muhammadu Buhari has assented to the Discrimination Against Persons
with Disabilities (Prohibition) Act, 2018. The law makes provision
for the prohibition of discrimination and harmful treatment towards
the physically challenged persons in our country.

It also provides for accessibility to physical structures and
makes it mandatory for public buildings, roads, walkways and others
to be constructed in such a way that a person with disability can
access them. According to Senior Special Assistant to the President
on National Assembly Senator Ita Enang, the law guarantees the
right to maintain civil action for damage by the person injured
against any defaulter.

However, as positive a development as the presidential assent
may be, it would take more than a new law to address the problems
of the physically challenged in our country. From the “Nigerians
with Disability” military decree of 1993 which provides “a clear
and comprehensive legal protection and security for Nigerians with
disability as well as establish standard for enforcement of their
rights and privileges” to the several efforts by the National
Assembly in the past 19 years, it is clear that the law is not the
problem. The main challenge has been the attitude of Nigerians to
the plight of this vulnerable group. Yet according to World Health
Organisation (WHO) reports, there are as many as 25 million
Nigerians living with one form of disability or another.

A recent news report stated clearly that about 98 per cent of
public buildings in the country such as schools, hospitals, banks,
even shop stalls, where some can make economic transactions, are
still inaccessible to persons with disabilities. Yet the physically
challenged persons constitute a significant percentage of the
population. Aside the law that compels the government to
accommodate them in any major enterprise, Nigeria is a signatory to
many international conventions that support equal opportunities for
all their citizens. The United Nations defines equalisation of
opportunities as “the process through which the general system of
society, such as the physical and cultural environment, housing and
transportation, social and health services, educational and work
opportunities, cultural and social life, including sports and
recreational facilities are made accessible to all.”

In Nigeria today, the physically challenged are most often
denied employment opportunities and they are also subjected to
discrimination and stigmatisation by both the society and the
authorities. From transportation which allows movement and
interactions, through health, recreations and even educational
services which can make them compete effectively, people with one
disability or another are most often deprived of their rights.
Everywhere and every day, obstacles are thrown on their paths. To
worsen the situation, many are regarded by their families as a
source of shame and treated as objects of charity. The few
vocational training centres set up by government are ill-equipped
and ill-maintained. Many end up in the streets as beggars while
others turn to drugs and other socially unacceptable behaviour to
generate income.

Now that the disability bill has been signed into law,
government at all levels must, as a matter of policy, create a
conducive atmosphere for social, economic and political integration
of the physically challenged in our society. Even if old public
institutional buildings cannot be modernised to accommodate them,
new ones should be built in such a way that they provide access to
the physically challenged. Attempts must also be made to open up
educational and employment opportunities so that they can compete
and embrace life with more confidence. The physically challenged in
our midst must be empowered to help themselves and their families
and contribute their bit to the growth and development of the
society.

Culled from Thisday Editorial