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The House of Representatives has decried the implementation of the Disability Act as the World Health Organisation (WHO) says Nigeria accounts for about 20 million out of the 195 million persons living with disabilities around the world.
This development translates to about 3.9 % of the global figure.
Majority Leader of the House, Prof. Julius Ihonvbere, stated this at the investigative hearing organised by the House Committee on Disability on Monday in Abuja.
He said, “This is therefore a major challenge to the government and people of Nigeria. I believe that the basis for this engagement has become necessary and long overdue.
We must act now in order to avoid repeating the mistakes of the past.
“We all know that the National Assembly passed the Bill on the Discrimination Against Persons with Disabilities (Prohibition) Act, 2018 and was assented to by President Muhammadu Buhari, this means that this law is already in force.
“The Act protects the rights and welfare of Persons With Disabilities in Nigeria, as enunciated by Part V, which provides for the liberty, right to education, health and first consideration in queues, accommodation and in emergencies.
“Yet, MDAs are yet to implement the Act even at this moment that we speak. But if this is allowed to continue, it will cause severe damage to our social economic development and further impair our thinking as a people without understanding and the will to do the right thing”.
According to him, Section 1 (i) of the Act provides that ”a person with disability shall not be discriminated against on the ground of his disability by any person or institution in any manner or circumstance."
He added, “The discrimination and stigmatisation faced by Persons With Disabilities in Nigeria have continued unabated yet the compliance level of MDAs to the 'Disability Act' has overtime left the challenges unattended.
“It is not different with the private sector. Whereas, Section 2 provides for the promotion of awareness regarding the 'rights, respect and dignity of persons with disabilities and (b) capabilities, achievements and contributions of persons with disabilities to the society”.
This is therefore a major challenge to the government and people of Nigeria. I believe that the basis for this engagement has become necessary and long overdue. We must act now in order to avoid repeating the mistakes of the past.
In his welcome address, the Chairman of the House Committee on Disability Matters, Bashiru Dawodu, lamented that despite a clear timeline for the commencement of the implementation of the passage of the ‘Discrimination Against Persons With Disability (Prohibition) Act 2018’ signed by former President Muhammadu Buhari, ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs) are still not implementing its provisions.
He stated that the Act had provided a timeline for the implementation which he said had elapsed since January and the MDAs were not committed to implementing its provisions.
According to him, the non-implementation of the provisions of the Disability Act is putting the lives of the people covered by the Act into jeopardy by denying them their various rights enshrined in the Act.
He informed that the committee was mandated to investigate the compliance of MDAs to the Discrimination Against Persons With Disability (Prohibition) Act 2018 sequel to the resolution of the House on a motion.
He said the committee would critically assess thematic areas of accessibility, employment, and disability inclusion in policy, plans, programmes and projects of the MDAs.
The Executive Secretary of the National Commission for Persons With Disabilities (NACPWD), Ayuba Gufwan lamented that the National Assembly was also guilty of non-implementation.
Gufwan said,“I want to draw your attention to the fact that I just escorted the executive secretary to the restroom to ease himself but I noticed that it was not accessible.
"Sir, charity needs to start at home. We have a lot of work to do. When we talk about access, we mean total accessibility, for example, conveniences, parking lots and all other facilities.”
