QUESTIONABLE DEMOCRACY DAY CELEBRATION (?): A CRY FROM THE MARGINS
We DEMAND Real Inclusive and Accessible CHANGE — Not Decades of Over 65 Years of Charity!
Abuja, Nigeria | June 12, 2025 — As the nation marks another Democracy Day celebration today, 35.5 million poor and helpless Nigerians with disabilities (PWDs) remain shut out — deliberately and systemically — from Nigeria’s democracy, governance, and national development.
From the 1914 Amalgamation of Nigeria, through the 1960 Independence, and now on June 12, 2025, there is absolutely nothing to celebrate for the vast community of Nigerians with disabilities. We have been treated, not as equal citizens, but as objects of pity, relegated to charity handouts and life on the margins as street beggars.
Despite the international community’s clear directive through the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD) — adopted on December 13, 2006 — which unequivocally stated:
“The Convention takes to a new height the movement from viewing persons with disabilities as ‘objects’ of charity, medical treatment and social protection towards viewing persons with disabilities as ‘subjects’ with rights, who are capable of claiming those rights… and being active members of society.” – UN DESA
Nigeria has failed its disability community.
Today, June 12, 2025, as politicians deliver speeches and fireworks go off, the voices of over 35 million Nigerians with disabilities remain drowned by decades of silence and exclusion. This community — one of the largest political constituencies in the country — has been denied real political agency, equal access to governance, and participation in democratic processes.
Despite President Tinubu’s appointment of just two officials — Hon. Chief Ayuba Burki Gufwan (Executive Secretary, National Commission for Persons with Disabilities) and Hon. Mohammed Abba Isa (SSA to the President on Special Needs and Equal Opportunity) — the truth remains undeniable:
This is not inclusion. This is tokenism.
What democracy are we celebrating when:
- The majority of Nigerians with disabilities still lack access to voting centers?
- Public offices and electoral processes remain inaccessible?
- Policy decisions continue to be made without the full and direct participation of PWDs?
- The National Disability Act of 2018 remains poorly implemented and underfunded?
We say ENOUGH IS ENOUGH.
We demand:
- Full implementation of the UNCRPD and Nigerian Disability Act, 2018
- Disability-inclusive electoral processes
- Appointment of PWDs into mainstream governance positions, not symbolic roles
- Accessible infrastructure and inclusive policy-making at every level of government
Democracy without inclusion is deception.
Signed,
Chief Eric Ndubueze Ufom
President, Equal Rights for Persons with Disabilities International, Inc. (ERPWDI), based in Houston, Texas, US