The Joint National Association of Persons with Disabilities (JONAPWD) Lagos State Chapter, in Collaboration with BONews has called on Gov. Babajide Sanwolu of Lagos state, to fund Lagos State Office for Disability LASODA and emulate the former Governor Akinwunmi Ambode and other past governors.
JONAPWD President, Dr. Adebukola Adebayo made the call at a one-day presentation and Media Paley on a charter of demands of persons with disabilities in Lagos on Thursday.
According to him, Persons with disabilities should not only be used to win the election, they are meant to be taken care of like every other abled people in society.
Adebayo also urged the Speaker of the Lagos House of Assembly Hon. Mudashiru Obasa ensures every law considers persons with disabilities, advocates for a review of the special people’s law in the state, and establishes a unit in the house that caters to people with disabilities.
He added that every law must reflect the lives of the disabled too.
Meanwhile, in her presentation, the Publisher BONews Blessing Oladunjoye, emphasized that the state government should improve on skills acquisition programs, because of the cost of living with disabilities.
Highlighting possible ways challenges of disabled persons could be addressed, she said “The state government should improve on its skill acquisition program for the persons living with disabilities as the cost of living is higher to the persons living with ability”.
However, Chairman JONAPWD Media Committee said the electoral process should be more participatory as stated in the Nigerian constitution, the country approaches election time come 2023.
“Election should be more participatory, no one should be left out. Both abled and disabled should be involved in the electoral processes”
HERE ARE THE RECOMMENDATIONS FOR THE STATE GOVERNMENT:
Following the concerns of PWDs collected through the rapid response survey, the following recommendations were developed to form the Charter of Demands of PWDs from the current and incoming administration in Lagos State.
LASODA AND IMPLEMENTATION OF THE SPL: The State government should commit to full implementation of the SPL by ensuring that— · Prompt constitution of the LASODA Governing Board with all disability clusters represented in order to give direction and inclusiveness in the management of the Agency. · Qualified professionals and specialists in all disability types be employed and deployed to LASODA with a view to ensuring that concerns of each disability type receives proper and professional attention. · Disability Desks manned by qualified professionals are created in critical MDAs to facilitate functional and institutional interaction between LASODA and the various MDAs. · Disability Support and Resource Centres are set-up in all the 20 LGAs and 37 LCDAs in order to reduce the challenges of PWDs having to come to the State Capital to receive necessary services from LASODA. · PWDs and their legitimate organizations (especially those with proven expertise and experience in disability and inclusive development) be constantly consulted and carried along in the design, planning, implementation and monitoring of disability inclusion in all policies, programs and projects of government at state and local levels.
EDUCATION: To make education more inclusive and accessible to PWDs, the State Government should— · Review and strengthen the Inclusive Education Policy with a 5-ear implementation plan that will receive annual cash-backed budget. · A distinct Directorate for Special and Inclusive Education is established under the Ministry of Education to provide the necessary professional and institutional support 10 to the delivery of qualitative, functional and inclusive education to children and learners with disabilities at primary, secondary and tertiary levels respectively. · All 49 public inclusive primary and secondary schools should be equipped with relevant assistive learning aids and provided with special teachers, care-givers and other relevant specialists. · All 49 inclusive schools be provided with functional buses to support mobility for pupils and learners. · Some of the inclusive schools be provided with boarding house facilities to ease learning for pupils and learners. · Special Allowances for special teachers be implemented in order to motivate them. HEALTH: The government needs to put in place a disability-Inclusive Health Framework in line with the SPL. This should— · Detail modalities for implementing the “free health” provisions of the SPL for PWDs. · The Lagos State Health Insurance Program and other primary health care delivery services be reviewed to mainstream the specific health needs of the various disability types. · All public health facilities should establish disability support desks/units and equip same with sign language interpreters, social workers, therapists, etc.
EMPLOYMENT, ECONOMIC EMPOWERMENT AND SOCIAL PROTECTION: The State Government should demonstrate real and sustained commitment to a more wholistic and systemic approach to the socio-economic empowerment of PWDs. This should be done through— · Guidelines for Disability-Inclusive employment and economic empowerment for PWDs should be developed. · Guidelines for delivery of disability-inclusive social protection should be developed. · The full and transparent implementation of the Disability Trust Fund as provided for in the SPL with full consultation and involvement of legitimate organizations of persons with disabilities in Lagos State. · Full compliance by all MDAs with the 1% quota reservation of employment slots for qualified PWDs during recruitment exercise in the State. · All social investment programs, social protection programs and various economic empowerment programs be reviewed to specifically capture and provide for “disability costs”, and mainstream specific abilities, interests and needs of various disability types. · Government procurements, especially those which target small and medium scale businesses should provide for specific quotas set aside for PWDs.
TRANSPORTATION: Mobility remains a major challenge for PWDs in a cosmopolitan state like Lagos. The state government still needs to do more to make public transportation more accessible for PWDs— · Guidelines on accessible transport services for PwDs should be produced and disseminated to all operators of public transportation services. · All public transportation infrastructure across the 3 modes (rail, road and water) should be made accessible to PWDs. · Accessible bus and train services should be offered free of charge to PWDs. · Public transportation personnel should be trained to provide support to PWDs.
ACCESS TO PUBLIC INFRASTRUCTURE: Since the making of the SPL, there is yet to be a documented accessibility standards to guide provision of accessible public infrastructure in the State. The Government is therefore requested to— · Develop Accessibility Standards to guaranty universal access to public infrastructure. · Conduct accessibility audits of major public infrastructure and spaces to identify accessibility needs and requirements. · Put in place a task force to ensure compliance with all accessibility standards in all public infrastructures and spaces.
THE STATE HOUSE OF ASSEMBLY: Since the passing of the SPL by the State House of Assembly, not much has been seen from the Legislature on the review and oversighting of the SPL. Accordingly, there is need for the current and next Assembly to— · Review the SPL to meet with current realities. · Mainstream disability inclusion into all legislations emanating from the Assembly. · Establish a Disability Unit to support disability inclusion in all legislative activities. · Make adequate appropriation of resources for the implementation of the SPL. · strengthen its oversight functions to ensure and compel full compliance with the provisions of the SPL.
THE JUDICIARY: PWDs in Lagos State face significant difficulties in gaining Access to justice. The Lagos State Judiciary and law enforcement agencies need to rise up to their responsibilities of delivering justice to PWDs in view of protecting their fundamental rights— · A framework to support access of PWDs to justice should be developed. · Regular Capacity building for judicial and law enforcement officials. · Provision of reasonable accommodations to PWDs who engage the justice system.
The realities on the ground indicate that very little have been done to guaranty access of PWDs to sustainable inclusion and participation in the vast socio-economic and political opportunities in Lagos state despite the existence of the SPL for the last 10 years.
PWDs in Lagos state are therefore demanding that the current and in-coming government in Lagos state should demonstrate strong commitment to full implementation Of the SPL.
PWDs and their representative organizations in Lagos State are therefore of the strong view that if the above demands are considered and met by the current and in-coming Government in Lagos State, a lot of grounds can be covered to strengthen the foundation for a more sustainable disability sensitive and inclusive Lagos State within the next one decade on or before 2030.
