Rights groups urge Fashola to sign Lagos Special Peoples’ Bill

TWO non-governmental organisations, the Legal Defence and Assistance Project (LEDAP) and the Centre for Citizens with Disabilities (CCD), have called on Governor Babatunde Fashola to sign into law the Lagos State Special Peoples’ Bill 2010 earlier passed by the State House of Assembly.

The groups, at the weekend, launched a one million-signature campaign from residents of Lagos State to urge Fashola to sign the bill into law.

According to the LEDAP’s national coordinator, Chino Edmund Obiagwu, the bill contains provisions that would ensure those people living with disabilities in Lagos State have equal rights; safeguarded against discrimination; have access to information and the socio-economic environment; receive special education; access to transport; and are provided with a dedicated Office for Disability Affairs to address complaints of harassment, discrimination and torture.

He said that Nigeria ratified the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and its Optional Protocol on September 24, 2010, but added that signing into law the Lagos State Special Peoples’ Bill will not only advance the inclusion of those living with disabilities in Lagos into the socio-economic environment and assist them in leading an independent life, but will also adhere to Nigeria’s obligations under the Convention and its protocol.

“The World Health Organisation estimates that there are 19 million people in Nigeria living with disabilities.  Living with a disability, whether it is physical, cognitive, mental, sensory, emotional or developmental, has a significant and often long lasting impact on an individual’s life.

“People living with disabilities experience widespread exclusion from the social, economic and political life of their communities, which is inevitably as a result of ongoing stigmatisation rooted in cultural and religious beliefs, and/or the neglect of their needs in the design of policies, programmes and facilities,” the group stated.

According to the group, LEDAP and CCD have the support of musicians, entertainers and ex-goal keeper for the Super Eagles, and gold medal Atlanta Olympic Games winner, Joseph Dosu; the chairman and secretary of the State Disabled Sports Assisted Project (SDSAP), Solomon Amarakuo and Okey Nnacheta respectively, the drafter of the Lagos State Special Peoples’ Bill 2010, Barrister Daniel Onwe and Mobility Aid and Appliances Research and Development Centre (MAARDEC) among others.