Ugo Nosiri, Owerri
Persons With Disabilities have called for the enforcement of the Disability Rights Law and legislations that address both physical and social barriers they face in their day to day activities.
They also want public awareness campaigns to challenge the stigma surrounding disability and the promotion of the idea that PWDs are capable and should be included in political process.
Executive Member, JONAPWD Anambra State Chapter, Ms Chidinma Ajemba made the call while speaking on the topic “Access and Political participation of PWDs in the South-East,” at the Ikengaonline virtual monthly townhall meeting.
Ms Ajemba maintained that it is a legal and societal priority in developed countries to design public buildings and transportation system with PWD inclusivity in mind, unlike what is obtainable in the South-East and Nigeria as a whole.
She noted that PWDs struggle to access not just political spaces, but basic social services and opportunities.
The PWD advocate decried that the political system in the country is not built to encourage and support their needs and participation. According to her, political parties rarely support them and do not accommodate them. She added that most polling units in the South-East are mostly set up in places difficult for them to access, thereby disenfranchising them.
Ms Ajemba therefore called on the government at all levels to ensure stringent penalty on anyone or group of persons who do not comply with the disability law, by taking the needs of PWDs into consideration.
