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From Magnus Eze, Enugu
Chairman of Joint National Association of Persons with Disabilities (JONAPWD), Enugu State chapter, Comrade Onyebuchi Mba is bothered about the exclusion of people with special needs in the state. He wants the state government to set up a commission to address the plights of people living with disabilities, as stipulated in the Disability Act. He also called on the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to consider inclusion of people with disabilities in order for them to participate in the country’s electoral process.
•Mba
What was your experience like in the last general elections as it concerns people with disabilities? And how would you assess the performance of INEC?
Our being here today is in representation to the disability community and when you talked about our experiences during the last general election, I will tell you that it has grown from what I could describe as from worse to worst because all the promises that INEC made were nowhere to be found in reality, ranging from arrival of electoral materials on time to the polling unit and the accessibility of the polling centres by persons with disabilities. So, the accessibility was not there as we still witnessed polling units staged in places we couldn’t access. There was no provision of shelter within the polling units. Talk of the blind persons that INEC promised to provide ballot papers for them to vote for the candidates of their choices independently. There was nothing of such in different polling units as we were told by our members scattered all over the state. Those of us who voted, requested for form EC48 after voting which would enable INEC to really ascertain the data of those of us that voted. There was nothing as such in our different polling units as reports have it. So, the experience has not been a fair one in spite of the provisions, all the noise, all the media information that we had prior to the election.
However, the election has come and gone and life goes on. We will continue to advocate for inclusive electoral system in Nigeria and also to allow persons with disabilities to exercise their franchise without any form of discrimination or limitation.
Has there been any post-election meeting of People Living With Disabilities with INEC after the 2023 general election?
Well, for now, I will tell you no. There has not been any meeting of the commission with us after the general election. What we on our part have done was to report back to them that look, all the promises you made prior to the election, we never received a reality. They apologised that the error wasn’t from them but due to one reason or the other in transferring the logistics. So, whether truth or false, we cannot tell but we have made our reports and through different civil society organisations also that have come to interview us to hear from persons with disabilities on how far the whole thing went. We have also duly communicated them that the situation of things has remained as usual over the years. So, from the part of INEC, we have not gotten any engagement so far up till this very moment.
Are there any plans to put things right and ensure that we don’t wait till 2027 for something to be done?
Yes, like I said abnitio that on our own part, we have begun the engagement report. We gave the report to INEC immediately after the election and we are still continuing because the whole of this year and beyond, we will continue our advocacy visit to the commission to still let them know that we didn’t enjoy that inclusion they promised us during the last election and we are also reaching out to other colleagues outside the state, Enugu. We will also do same across the federation so as to maintain a strong voice. So, we will continue to advocate for inclusion of persons with disabilities through media engagement and other areas of opportunities that we can also utilise to air our views for a change.
You talked about inclusion in the electoral process. What about inclusion in the area of government appointments and all that?
I must tell you that in terms of participation, inclusion of persons with disabilities in governance in Enugu State for now, we are yet to see it happening, it is still at the zero level, zero level in the sense that over the years, what we have had here is charity-based approach on issues affecting persons with disabilities from the state actors. But we preach for right-based approach and this right-based approach is yet to come on board in reality. So, I will tell you that for now, all appointments made in Enugu State, no person with disability is there. Currently, as we speak even in recruitment, employment opportunities, persons with disabilities are still finding life so difficult than ever. You can see the economic realities of the country today. The harsh part of it is that persons with disabilities are at the receiving end and that is why we cry that the government of the state should give us a voice for he who wears the shoes, knows where it pinches him and whatever one thinks that he or she is doing for a person with disability, I can authoritatively tell you that there shouldn’t be anything without cost. That is to say that there will be no programme for persons with disabilities without persons with disabilities at the policy level development, that is involving them from the stage of policy dreaming process and there to the stage of policy implementation. So, for now, the inclusiveness, the participation is still on the low side.
Is the disability law still domesticated in Enugu?
Yes. In April 2023, the State Assembly signed it into law. In May last year when the past administration was winding up, the governor signed it into law. That law provides for the establishment of Enugu State Disability Commission. The commission is yet to be put in place. It is still part of our prayers that the current Enugu State governor, Dr. Peter Mbah should see reasons to accommodate persons with disabilities by creating this particular commission to allow issues of persons with disabilities to be coming in right-based issues instead of as charity-based issues.
Does it mean that until the commission is put in place, it will not be possible to enforce the law on disability?
The law currently is enforceable but you know when you are enforcing a law without trace, it’s like begetting a child without parents. We strongly needed a commission that we will know is fully responsible as the law provides that the powers are vested in the commission to champion every issue affecting persons with disabilities, be it socially, economically, educationally and otherwise. By so doing, it will give us strong hope that tomorrow is actually here as the Enugu State governor always says. Persons with disabilities can only know that tomorrow is here by giving us hope and that hope is the Enugu State Disability Commission, a commission that will annually be considered in budgetary provision, a commission that will be responsible for the education of the disabled child in the state. All over the state, we are hearing different policies and programmes of the state but there is none that is exclusively targeted at persons with disabilities. Everything is still on charity-based approach. You can imagine the implications in the comity of persons with disabilities.
