Disability Act should not be a paper tiger

History was made last Wednesday, January 23, 2019 when President Muhammadu Buhari assented to the Discrimination against Persons with Disabilities (Prohibition) Act, 2018. It had been a long-drawn battle that spanned about 18 years, the last two National Assembly passed the bill, two successive presidents refused blatantly to assent to it. Securing the President’s assent this time round too was not easy. According to a Facebook post by one of the leading lights in the struggle to stop discrimination of persons with disabilities, David Anyaele of the Centre for Citizens with Disabilities Lagos, the signing “is  coming one week after a well-coordinated campaign by the Coalition of Disability Organisations ranging from engagement of Mr. President at The Candidates Town Hall Meeting, protest march for the President’s assent on the bill, massive media engagement and an Inter-Faith Prayer Session for the Assent of the President on the National Disability Bill.”

Prior to the coming of this National Disability Act, there had been numerous efforts on the part of the Nigerian government to ameliorate the sufferings of the PLwDs. According to the Ministry of Women Affairs and Social Development, Nigeria signed and ratified the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and its Optional Protocol on May 28, 2007 and October 27, 2008 respectively. The Convention seeks among other things, “To promote, protect and ensure the full and equal enjoyment of all human rights and fundamental freedoms by all persons with disabilities, and to promote respect for their inherent dignity.”  On July 14, 2010, Nigeria signed the International Labour Organisation Convention on the Vocational Rehabilitation and Employment of (Disabled) No. 159 of 1983. This Convention makes provision for employment of persons with disabilities without discrimination. On September 25, 2018, the Independent National Electoral Commission launched the “Framework on Access and Participation of Persons with Disabilities in the Electoral Process” which is aimed at mitigating the challenges confronting Persons with Disabilities and promoting their participation in the political process.

All is well that ends well and I congratulate all persons with disabilities for keeping faith with the struggle for inclusive governance and a better society. May I say that President Buhari’s gesture in signing this bill barely three weeks to the elections is a masterstroke as it may be to his political advantage at the February 16, 2019 presidential election. There is an estimated 27 million Persons with Disabilities living in Nigeria. Should they want to show gratitude at the polls, your guess is as good as mine whom they will want to vote for.

Gradually, President Buhari is building up his social capital ahead of next month’s elections. First, in June 2018, was his recognition of June 12 as  Nigeria’s  new Democracy Day and the posthumous investiture of the winner of the June 12, 1993 presidential election, MKO Abiola, with the highest honour in the land, the Grand Commander of the Federal Republic. In November 2018, the President approved a salary raise for police personnel. The welfare package tagged, Rank Salary Structure Adjustment, involves increase in the salaries, allowances and pensions of police officers. Shortly after, in the same November 2018, the President approved reduction in the cost of forms for some terminal examinations like the Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination, the West African Senior Secondary School Examination, as well as the Basic Education Certificate Examination. There were also rife allegations that the N10,000 TraderMoni which is a collateral-free loan to poor traders across the country is an advance vote-buying given the fact that it is being done close to the elections. Indeed, politics is a game!

Back to the new National Disability Act, it is important to know some of the provisions. As the saying goes, ignorance of the law is not an excuse.  According to the Presidential Liaison to the National Assembly (Senate), Senator Ita Enang, the new Act prohibits all forms of discrimination on the grounds of disability and imposes a fine of N1, 000, 000 for corporate bodies and N100, 000 for individuals or a term of six months imprisonment for violation concurrently. It also guarantees the right to maintain civil action for damage by the person injured against any defaulter.

He notes that, “It (the Act) provides for a five-year transitional period within which public buildings, structures or automobile are to be modified to be accessible to and usable by persons with disabilities, including those on wheelchairs. The Act further provides that: “Before erecting any public structure, its plan shall be scrutinised by the relevant authority to ensure that the plan conforms with the building code.

“A government or government agency, body or individual responsible for the approval of building plans shall not approve the plan of a public building if the plan does not make provision for accessibility facilities in line with the building code.  An officer who approves or directs the approval of a building plan that contravenes the building code, commits an offence and is liable on conviction to a fine of at least N1, 000, 000 or a term of imprisonment of two years or both.

 “Discrimination is prohibited in public transportation facilities and service providers are to make provision for the physically, visually and hearing impaired and all persons howsoever challenged. This applies to seaports, railways and airport facilities.”

The rights and privileges of Persons with Disabilities include education, healthcare, priority in accommodation and emergencies. Furthermore, all public organisations are to reserve at least five per cent of employment opportunities for these persons. The National Commission for Persons with Disabilities is also established in Section 31 with an Executive Secretary as the head.

In a December 20, 2017 article entitled, “What Persons with Disabilities want”, I quoted the Executive Director of Cedar Seed Foundation, who is also a House of Representatives candidate for Accord Party in the FCT in the forthcoming elections, Lois Auta, as saying, inter alia, “It is important to note that a majority of persons living with disabilities lack access to information, and largely unaware of their rights. The concomitant effect is that their rights are abused on a daily basis by the government, the private sector and other citizens, with no remedies. They also lack access to public infrastructure; public policies, employment, education, transport systems, ICT infrastructure, housing; healthcare delivery and the electoral system largely exclude the PwDs.  Conversely, the Nigerian society continues to view disability issue from a social welfare perspective, merely confining the PLWDs to individuals seeking for just basic needs of life. But truth be told, we are tired of the charity model. We want the social model where we can enjoy our full rights as citizens through inclusive policy process.  We are simply asking for all barriers hindering us from living a productive life to be removed. As individuals, we have all our stories of triumphs and defeats as PLWDs.

 We are living witnesses to how social, economic and political barriers have impacts on our abilities to harness our potential in life.” What a declaration!

The needful at this point is full implementation of the new Act starting with the prompt establishment of the National Commission for Persons with Disabilities. States yet to pass the discrimination against persons with disabilities (Prohibition) bill should also emulate about eight states that had previously passed the bill into law. Above all, there is a need for positive attitudinal change to persons with disabilities.