By Hameed Oyegbade
The "Discrimination against Persons with
disabilities (Prohibition) Act 2018 definitely was a milestone for those
affected and probably for all the citizens. At least, the over 25 million
persons that are living with disabilities in Nigeria are happy over the passage
and signing of a law aimed at reintegrating them fully back into the society.
The Act envisages the condition and limitations of
persons living with disabilities and makes provision for their inclusion in the
society at least as succour to mitigate their emotional and psychological
trauma. If the law is implemented, it would alleviate the suffering of persons
living with disabilities to a great extent and even curb the menace of using
them as object of begging and also relief the relations of this category of
Nigerians from bearing the entire burden of catering for them all alone.
But it may not happen easily and this law might just
become one of those laws that are just there without being implemented. For
instance, the law that prohibits discrimination against persons living the
HIV/AIDS is just there and not implemented. That law provided that all places
of work must develop HIV/AIDS workplace policy as a way of ensuring that the
employers would not maltreat employees because of their HIV status. Up till
now, if at all, it's rare to see any workplace that has such policy.
The implementation of that law on prohibition of
discrimination against persons living with HIV suffered serious setback because
there was no push until recently that Lawyers Alert Nigeria, a nongovernmental
organization took up the case of a man that was sacked by his employer because
of his HIV status. Lawyers Alert dragged the employer to court and won the case
and the man, Mr X was handsomely compensated while that employer served as
deterrent to other employers that tend to behave in the same manner.
Another law that was passed that also face
implementation challenge is the 'Not Too Young to Rule'. Despite the passage of
this law, it was shocking that the percentage of the youth that were elected in
the just concluded 2019 election did not commensurate with the expectation in a
country with huge population of youths.
Also, the Freedom of Information Act, up till now,
has not been given the chance at implementation stage. There are several cases
in court now on the application of the Freedom of Information Act. A human
right activist and member of Ondo State Civil Society Organization, Martins Alo
dragged Ondo State Government to court over issues around application of Freedom
of Information Act and the case has been foot-dragging from High Court to
Appeal Court and now at Supreme Court with its fate hanging in the balance.
One then begins to wonder why the passing and
signing the laws since such laws would not be implemented. Then, what is the
essence of the legislative arm of government that gulps huge resources from the
nation to service the legislators. And what's the essence of government without
laws when the state exists due to the existence of the law. Why do we then have
the judiciary if the laws would not function?
This disability act is a litmus test to really know
the seriousness and sincerity of the administration of President Muhammadu
Buhari who is a disciplined law enforcer, given his military background, and
who appears to be a man of principle and having a lawyer, Senior Advocate of
Nigeria (SAN) and a professor of Law, Yemi Osinbajo as Vice President.
The stakeholders from various clusters in the
disabilities community in Nigeria demand the immediate implementation of this
Disability Act. At a recent strategy session facilitated by Department for
International Development (DFID’s) Partnership to Engage, Reform and Learn
(PERL) recently, the stakeholders dissected the law and identified priority
areas that required immediate implementation.
Professor Jubril Isah of Bayero University, Kano
(BUK), Dr. Adebukola Adebayo, Member, Governing Board, Lagos State Office for
Disability Affairs (LASODA), Mr. David Anyaele, Executive Director, Centre for
Citizens with Disabilities, Mr Daniel Onwe, President, Lawyers Living with
Disabilities, Irene Ojugo Patrick-Ogbogu, Executive Director, Disability Rights
Advocacy Center (DRAC) and Sulaimon Abdulazeez, Chairman, Kaduna State chapter
of JONAPWD were among the stakeholders at the session and they unanimously
agreed on five key areas for immediate implementation of the law.
The stakeholders commended the national Assembly and
the presidency for gazetting the law. They urged President Buahri to set up the
national commission for disability without delay. They also appealed to the
federal government to provide fund for the commission to be effective. They
also emphasised the need by all stakeholders including the media to create more
awareness of the law so that every citizens would be aware of the existence of
the law and abide. The stakeholders charged all state governors to domesticate
the disability law in their various state at the.
In conclusion, the persons living with disabilities
are citizens of this country who deserve to live and function unhindered,
(within the ambit of the law) but they are at disadvantage in most cases and
are often are being denied of access and opportunities because of their
condition. This necessitated the disability is law to reintegrate them back fully
into the society and give them sense of belonging. This will promote love among
the citizenry if well implemented. Therefore, I urge President Buhari and all
those concerned to please kindly take the Disability Law in Nigeria to the Next
Level by ensuring the immediate implementation of the law.
Hameed Oyegbade writes from Ifelodun Community,
Agunbelewo Area, Osogbo, Osun State, Nigeria
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