Disability Day: stigmatization, aberration, negative trend on persons with disability – Cleric
Zainab Tanimu
Kaduna, Northwest Nigeria
The need for inclusiveness, dignity and respect for persons with disability has once again been emphasized.
Co- Executive Director Interfaith Mediation Centre, Kaduna State, Imam Nureyn Ashafa stressed this at the just concluded celebration of the disability day held in Kaduna.
Speaking, Imam Nureyn described the continuous stigmatization as an aberration and a negative trend to the cooperate existence of persons with special needs.
Persons with special needs he said have equal rights to existence and should be treated with dignity.
With about 20 million persons living with disability in Nigeria, he called on government to as a matter of necessity create a commission that will cater for their needs.
“Because you lost one part of your body or one part of your body fails to work does not make you to loss your dignity, your honor as a person.”
The special day designed in a year by the United nation he said gives the opportunity “to put a pause and reflect on how far we have gone”.
Imam Ashafa called on cooperate bodies, corporate organization and multi- national bodies, philantrophics to rise up “to the mantle of investing in their social responsibilities looking at most importantly people with special needs to be able to do something uniquely in support, and that is the cry today.”
Now that everything is digitalized, it is important that they are carried along. He said.
“Have we created compatible environments In our schools, compatible environments in our homes, in our academic institutions that will align with the spirit of inclusivity for people living with disability?
“Such technologies like the use of the brail machines, that of computer, handset and other important applications aligned with persons with special need to be put in place.. These tools should be friendly to them, this is what is needed today, and l believe we need to work together in order to give opportunity to our own sons and daughters who by accident or history find themselves at the other sides to be able to live and give their best to their own communities.
Imam Ashafa called on the need for strong religious leaders to come up with strong sensitizations, a strong cautioning in our mosques, in our churches, in our madarasas, in our seminarians to let the world know that stigmatization an aberration, is a negative trend. It may happen to you, today it happened to someone else you are happy and you stigmatize them, it doesn’t mean that it cannot happen to you. So therefore, we need to stop this because it is a negative trend.
He called on teachers, students, youth to be cautious with the language they use when dealing with people living with disability.
This year’s theme, ‘United in action to rescue and achieve the sustainable development goals for, with and by persons with disabilities’ has been described as very key in the pursuance of better status for Persons with special needs.
Speakers at the occasion all described the disability law as deemed fit and should be pursued with utmost attention by government in order to pave way for the recognition and inclusiveness of persons with disability in the day to day affairs of the nation.
The Executive Director, Improvement in Respect of Social Status of Person’s living with Disability, Dr. Micah Shabiu, fielding questions from newsmen while explaining the importance of the celebration said, the United Nation has set aside every December 3rd to celebrate persons living with disability all over the world. The theme of this year’s celebration, “United in Action, to Rescue Person’s With Disability” is key. He said.
According to him, “the word, rescue means, something is wrong somewhere”.
The United nation he added recognizes that persons living with disability.all over the world have challenges.
“Our challenges as persons living with disability is holistic. In all ramifications, l cannot pinpoint that this is the major one.
“The United nation is aware of this, and that there is the need to be united, and in action to rescue persons with disability.
“We have challenges in educate, challenges in employment, challenges in our rights. Up till now in Nigeria they still see persons with disability as nobody whereas in the universal declaration of human rights, article 1, set aside by 10th December, 1948, it states that “all human beings are equal in dignity.
Article 8 of convention of persons with disability says, awareness of issues of persons living with disability is obligatory and Nigeria is also a signatory.
Lamenting, ‘nobody is celebrating in Nigeria’, saying, anything that is obligatory, one can be taken to court. We have to join hands together and do what is supposed to be done. This is what we are doing, we need to unite ourselves and celebrate it. He said.
Head of Social Welfare and Disability Affairs of Kaduna State Disability Board, Aisha Musa Adamu explaining what persons with disability stand to benefit with the full implementation of the law, and the progress so far made said, very soon the matter of exclusion will be a thing of the past as all is now set for the implementation of the disability law.
“In those days the issue of exclusion was pronounced. But now we thank God because government is putting a lot of efforts to bring about change. We find PWD’s in all walks of life where others are found. Part of the efforts of government that has brought about change is the disability law that is signed. That law has really done a lot, and will continue do a lot because it clearly spelt out the rights of persons with disability and it sections when tempered with.
Aisha described the law as a progress for persons with disability because things are beginning to change. Before now, persons with disability have been going through a lot of discriminations. She assured that when the law is fully functional, all their challenges will become a thing of the past.
She urged them to work together to ensure the actualization of the law.
“I am so glad. This theme is very important because anything the government will do, if no efforts are made from persons with disability it will not work. So any development that is brought, we need it to be sustainable, and they (persons with disability) are supposed to own those things, make sure they are sustained”.
As to what they are doing to ensure the implementation of the law, they have done a lot she said as there has been collaborations with other stakeholders for a way forward.
“The law is fully signed, the implementation law has been designed by other stakeholders and the board and are awaiting the signature of the Kaduna state governor in order to do the operational plan.
“When we do the operational plan, l assure you that the plan will be fully functional and we start to use them because it ensures accessibility and so many things. For example, the law says, ‘all public buildings must be accessible and if not made accessible within a time frame, they will be sanctioned, no matter what kind of outfit you have. Be it hospital, bank, any public place.’
“Again, in public functions, there has to be provision for a sign language interpreter of which failure to do that will attract a fine of N200,000 or 6yrs imprisonment or both.
“That law has really done a lot and it is progress for persons with disability. She said.
