ENDING DISCRIMINATION AGAINST PERSONS WITH DISABILITIES
Today, December 3, the world over is
commemorating the 2016 International Day of Persons living with Disabilities.
The United Nations (UN) Decade of Disabled Persons was held from 1983 to 1992
to enable governments and organizations at all levels to implement measures to
improve the life of disabled persons all over the world.
On October 14, 1992, as the decade drew
to a close, the UN General Assembly proclaimed December 3 of every year as the
International Day of Disabled Persons. This day was first observed on December 3, 1992. Subsequently, on December 18, 2007, the Assembly
changed the observance’s name from the International Day of Disabled Persons to
the ‘International Day of Persons with Disabilities’. The new name was first
used in 2008. The theme of this year’s anniversary is ‘Achieving 17 goals for
the future we want’.
Disability is the consequence of an
impairment that may be physical, sensory, mental, cognitive, emotional,
developmental, or a combination of these. A certain disability may be present
from birth, or occur during a person’s lifetime. Disability is an umbrella term
covering impairments, participation restriction, and activity limitations.
Impairment is a plight in one’s body function or structure; participation
restriction is a problem experienced by a person in involvement in life
situations; whilst an activity limitation is a difficulty encountered by an
individual in executing a task or action.
This implies that disability is indeed
a complex phenomenon, reflecting an interaction between features of a person’s
body and features of the society in which he/she lives or belongs. For
instance, various forms of chronic disease may also qualify as disabilities.
Some advocates object to describing certain conditions such as deafness, vision
impairment, or autism as disabilities, arguing that it is more appropriate to
consider them as developmental differences that have been unfairly stigmatized
by the society. In the same vein, others argue that disability is a result of
exclusion from mainstream society and not because of impairment.
The term ‘disability’ broadly
describes impairment in a person’s ability to function as an individual, caused
by changes in several subsystems of the body or in mental health. The degree of
disability may range from mild to moderate, severe, or profound. A person might
also be suffering from multiple disabilities. Irrespective of the degree or
nature of the disability, it can be measured objectively or subjectively.
Considering the causes of disability,
the condition could be inherited or genetically transmitted; congenital,
meaning literally caused by a mother’s infection or other diseases gotten prior
to or during pregnancy as well as soon after birth, or via embryonic/fetal
developmental irregularities. It could also be acquired, such as conditions
caused by illness, injury, or accident; or even of unknown origin, as the case
may be.
There are currently several classes of
disability including physical disability, sensory disability, vision
impairment, hearing impairment, olfactory and gustatory impairment, balance
disorder, somatosensory disorder, intellectual disability, mental disorder, pervasive
developmental disorders, and developmental disability, among others. Whichever
type that is involved, it is worth noting that an individual with any form of
disability can function as effective as, even more effective or efficient than,
able-bodied individuals if given the needed support or encouragement.
Against this backdrop, based on our
individual/corporate social responsibilities, we are expected to always
endeavour to do everything within our reach and humanly possible to ensure that
persons living disabilities at our respective jurisdictions are duly given a
sense of belonging starting from the classrooms to working places with a view
to strengthening nation building.
At the various institutions of
learning, from primary to tertiary level, rather than discriminating the said
set of people, they are meant to be given special attentions by the teachers
and management of the schools. For instance, those suffering from vision
impairment such as the albinos are supposed to be provided with special
sunglasses and also meant to sit at the front of their classrooms or closer to
the board. Such treatment ought to be replicated during their various examinations,
either internal or external.
Similarly, during electioneering eras,
the electoral umpire is expected to make a different arrangement towards the
sensitization of the electorate with disabilities in line with the nature of
their challenges. And, on the election days, the persons in question deserve a
preferential treatment throughout the polls to enable them cast their votes
properly and at ease as demanded.
More so, it is no longer news that in
the labour market as well as political settings, the degree of discrimination
faced by persons living with disabilities is presently on the rampage. In view
of this, there’s a compelling need for the legislators to enact a strict law
that would stipulates a basic statutory percentage of persons with disabilities
expected to be found in any public sector, or a certain minimum number of
persons with disabilities that must be employed or appointed in the civil
service or political arena, respectively, in accordance with the directive of
the UN. Establishing a separate ministry coupled with an agency for persons
with disabilities would go a long to resolving the anomaly.
Worse still, it is obvious that
recently, several prospective students with disabilities such as HIV/AIDS or
physical challenges of most citadels of learning across the country, especially
the privately owned tertiary institutions, are invariably deprived of their
chances of securing admission thereby making most of them lose interest of
furthering their education. Undoubtedly, the level of post-traumatic stress
disorder attributed to the aforementioned stigmatization cannot be
overemphasized that if adequate and drastic approach is not taken by the
appropriate authorities towards ending the anomaly, it is liable to degenerate
into an untold societal menace.
Above all, acknowledging that persons
with disabilities easily fall victim of any disaster or crisis owing to
vulnerability, there’s no need reiterating that they are meant to be attended
to, or treated as a priority during any disaster management. To this end, any
personnel/expert involved in the management of any form of crisis ought to
ensure that individuals with disabilities that are resident in the affected
area are first attended to as well as duly catered for before any other
resident.
As Nigeria joins the rest of the world
to commemorate the International Day of Persons with Disabilities, I enjoin
every Nigerian citizen, and civil society organization, to in their respective
capacities endeavour to protect the rights of persons living with disabilities.
We can actualize this by confronting any norm, cultural belief or perception
that condones any kind of discrimination against them. In addition, thorough
education cum reorientation among the citizenry as regards ending the menace
remains inevitable. Think about it!
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