3 Years is Enough to Write Your Name in Gold – Nigerians with Disabilities Pioneers Tell President Buhari
Originally published June 15, 2020, by Vanguard News — Abayomi Adeshida.
President Muhammadu Buhari has been urged to seize the opportunity presented to him to establish the Nigerian Commission for Persons with Disabilities in order to leave a legacy that would write his name in gold, create an indelible impression in the hearts of disabled Nigerians, and be documented in a Presidential Library for future generations.
He was also told that the same golden opportunity would grant him an enduring space in the hearts of over thirty-one million Nigerians living with disabilities, traumatized at-risk children, including the rising number of almajiris, retiring senior citizens, wounded law enforcement veterans, and internally displaced persons in Nigeria.
These concerns were part of issues raised in a letter submitted by the Chairperson/Secretary of the Joint National Association of Persons with Disabilities, Miss Omotunde Ellen Thompson, and signed by the President of Equal Rights for Persons with Disabilities International Incorporation, Chief Eric Ndubueze Ufom.
President Buhari was informed that the legacy he would leave behind might be negative if he fails to relieve the current Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development, Hajia Sadiya Umar Farouq, of her position.
In the lengthy document, the special citizens accused the Minister of having intelligently and willingly excluded their key officers from negotiations during the build-up to the establishment of the Commission, after their successful advocacy and negotiations for the Commission, the Nigerian Disability Act 2018, and the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD). They warned that such exclusion was likely to bring in political jobbers who would sour the existing cordial relationship between the President and members of the Pioneers group at home and in the diaspora.
According to their demand on June 12, 2020, Nigeria’s Democracy Day Celebration:
“Per the aforementioned, we humbly and respectfully move to plead with you to please, Mr. President, use the remaining less than 3 years in office to properly shape how your history and LEGACY should be truthful, told or written or presented and achieved by us and other Nigerian interest groups for the future generations of Nigerians and Nigerians with disabilities.”
“This is because as soon as your term in office is over, you will lose total direct control over how we the Nigerians with Disabilities in the Diaspora and those based at home, will definitely start to truthful interpret, tell or write or documentary about you or achieve your true stories, history, and LEGACIES.”
They continued:
“We will definitely copy the same kinds of ways and standards which were applied by our fellow Americans with Disabilities, whereby they successfully advocated, negotiated and demanded truthful narratives and presentations of the longest-serving United States President, Franklin Delano Roosevelt. Thank God that we directly participated during that time and must do the same when you retire.”
“Sir, please note that we will definitely build President Muhammadu Buhari’s Disability Museum and Monument and tell it all as it was, the same way as the U.S. President Franklin Delano Roosevelt Memorial. And at that time, Sir, you and your family will not have any kind of direct or indirect control over our positive actions.”
They further stated:
“Therefore, Sir, on behalf of Nigerians with Disabilities, we humbly and respectfully request that you please use your remaining less than three years to do the right things for Nigerians with Disabilities, as was done by the President of the United States above for Americans with Disabilities.”
“Please, Sir, while considering this valid request, note that the Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development, Hajia Sadiya Umar Farouq, is the wrong person who will truly represent you in duplicating and implementing the above.”
The group lamented that on June 12, 2020, Nigeria’s Democracy Day Celebrations, over 31 million Nigerians with Disabilities, 15 million Almajiris, millions of internally displaced persons (IDPs), millions of retired Nigerians, and wounded law enforcement veterans were knowingly or deliberately and intelligently excluded from participating by the Minister, who failed to be truthful in implementing the Discrimination Against Persons with Disabilities (Prohibition) Act, 2018, the United Nations CRPD (especially Article 4 – General Obligations, 4.3), and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) 2030 Agenda.
They emphasized:
“Please Sir note that the Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development, Hajia Sadiya Umar Farouq, knowingly or deliberately and intelligently has failed or refused to be truthful in implementing the Discrimination Against Persons with Disabilities (Prohibition) Act, 2018, the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD), especially its Article 4 – General obligations (4.3) and Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) 2030 Agenda for over 31 million Nigerians with Disabilities.”
They cited the Nigerian Disability Act’s Part VII on Establishment of a National Commission for Persons with Disabilities, highlighting:
- Section 31(1): Establishes the National Commission for Persons with Disabilities under the Presidency.
- Section 32(1): Establishes a Governing Council to conduct the affairs of the Commission.
- Section 32(2): Specifies the composition of the Council, including:
- A part-time Chairman
- One person with disability from each geopolitical zone
- Representatives from ministries including Education, Health, Sports, Women Affairs, Housing, Transport, Environment, Labour and Productivity, and Justice
- Representatives from the National Human Rights Commission and Planning Commission
- Section 32(3): The Chairman and zonal representatives shall be appointed by the President subject to Senate confirmation.
They noted that the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs is not included in the law as a representative ministry.
The group referenced United States President Franklin Roosevelt’s founding of the March of Dimes and his legacy in disability empowerment, noting:
“Twelve years later, he reinvented the charity like the National Foundation for Infantile Paralysis (NFIP). The NFIP was a non-partisan association of health scientists and volunteers that helped fund research for a polio vaccine and assisted victims through physical rehabilitation.”
The group concluded:
“We, the Equal Rights for Persons with Disabilities International, Inc (ERPWDI-USA) (aka Equal Rights for Persons with Disabilities Initiative (EROWID-Nigeria)), led by Chief Eric Ndubueze Ufom, who were the only Nigeria’s official delegation to the UN and also Nigerian Civil Society Organization of Persons with Disabilities accredited by the UN ECOSOC, who also represented the Federal Government of Nigeria and 31 million Nigerians with Disabilities as members of the United Nations Ad Hoc Committee, that drafted, advocated and negotiated with UN Member States to adopt the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities on December 13, 2006, and the Joint National Association of Persons with Disabilities of Nigeria (JONAPWD-National), led by Lady Omotunde Ellen Thompson, became the only Nigeria’s Civil Society Organization of Persons with Disabilities official United Nations Independent Monitoring Mechanism under Article 33 (1 & 3).”