Concerns of people living with disabilities mount, CISLAC seeks more budgetary allocations

The Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre (CISLAC) has called on the Nigerian government to increase budgetary allocations for people with disabilities (PWDs) in the 2024 supplementary and 2025 budgets.

The Executive Director of CISLAC, Auwal Rafsanjani, made the call in a statement shared with PREMIUM TIMES on Friday, emphasising the urgent need for enhanced disability inclusion and empowerment amid PWDs’ mounting concerns.

He said the current financial support is grossly inadequate to meet the needs of over 30 million Nigerians with disabilities.

Auwal Rafsanjani

He stressed the importance of a significant increase in budgetary allocations to foster disability inclusion and enable PWDs to contribute more effectively to Nigeria’s development.

“While we commend the federal government and National Assembly efforts in addressing PWDs’ challenges, much more must be done to adequately meet their daily needs. Given current economic realities, prioritising an increase in budgetary allocations for PWDs is imperative. Despite passing the 2024 appropriation bill, we urge the government to augment the PWDs’ budget using contingency funds allocated for unforeseen circumstances,” Mr Rafsanjani stated.

The Discrimination Against Persons with Disabilities (Prohibition) Act of 2018 aims to protect PWDs’ rights and integrate them into society.

However, Mr Rafsanjani noted that implementation of the law has been significantly hindered by insufficient funding.

“Current budget allocations fall short of meeting the needs of over 30 million Nigerians with disabilities, depriving many of essential services such as education, healthcare, employment opportunities, and accessible infrastructure,” he stated.

PWDs’ concerns mount

The publicity secretary of a community of PWDs in Karimajiji, along the Umar Yar’adua Expressway, Abuja, Ibrahim Sagir, expressed frustrations over the neglect and discrimination they face and called for government intervention.

“We have communities of PWDs in the six local government areas of Abuja.

“We are suffering because the government and the commission have abandoned us. The skill acquisition centre over there was built and equipped by an NGO.

“We don’t have enough light to power the skill acquisition centre for our people to learn. We don’t want our people to be begging on the street, but we don’t have steady power to ensure they learn skills. Also, we have a bad road leading to our community,” he said.

Without the government’s deliberate efforts to equip people with disabilities with skills and educate them, many of them cannot meet their basic needs and contribute meaningfully to the development of society.

A member of the Karimajiji community with a mobility disability, Sa’adatu Bashir, 37, told PREMIUM TIMES, seated in a wheelchair at her residence in Karimajiji, that she needed money for her medical expenses, children’s education and to meet her basic needs.

Mrs Sa’adatu Bashir

Also, Hadiza Abdullahi, 42, another resident and wheelchair user in the community, expressed frustrations trying to pay her children’s school fees.

Mrs Hadiza Abdullahi

“We do pay (children’s school fees) because failure means expulsion,” she stated.

She also lamented how the government had made many promises to them in Karimajiji but kept none.

What the two women referred to as the primary school in their community that their children attend has only two government teachers. The community pays the other four teachers working in the school.

“We pay the teachers through the Parent-Teachers Association (PTA). We collect money to pay them since the government could not send teachers down to teach our children,” Ms Bashir said.

A spokesperson for the National Commission for Persons with Disabilities told PREMIUM TIMES that his organisation was tackling various challenges facing PWDs through advocacy and setting up small businesses.

For instance, he said, the commission has set up Point of Sale (POS) businesses and provided financial aid for some of them.

However, the experiences of people with disabilities in the country remain unsalutary even after the enactment of the disabilities law in 2018.

The President of the Joint National Association of Persons with Disabilities (JONAPWD), Abdullahi Usman, told PREMIUM TIMES that despite 14 states signing and domesticating their versions of the Discrimination Against Persons with Disabilities (Prohibition) Act of 2018, implementation remains poor.

“For effective domestication, states must establish commissions where at least 70 per cent of staff members are people with disability,” he noted.

The Discrimination Against Persons with Disabilities (Prohibition) Act of 2018 established the National Commission for Persons with Disabilities (NCPWD) to cater for the needs and problems of PWDs across the country.

A spokesperson for the NCPWD confirmed to our reporter that challenges facing PWDs have persisted, particularly in societal attitudes, including stigmatising and stereotyping them.

However, the commission said it remained optimistic about improvements under the current administration led by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.

Recommendations

Mr Rafsanjani of CISLAC said the government must allocate more funds for the welfare of PWDs to demonstrate genuine commitment towards enhancing their rights and well-being.

He also called for investment in special education programmes, vocational training, schools, and skills acquisition workshops to equip PWDs with the necessary skills for gainful employment and economic empowerment.

He further called for allocating more funds to improve healthcare access for PWDs, including providing specialised medical care and establishing accessible healthcare facilities for them.

He also said there should be rehabilitation centres and assistive devices for the PWDs.

Regarding employment, he called for implementing legislation and policies to foster employment opportunities for PWDs, support entrepreneurship initiatives, and enforce anti-discrimination laws in workplaces.

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Additionally, Mr Rafsanjani urged the federal government to allocate more funds towards building accessible infrastructures for the PWDs. He stressed the importance of developing public infrastructure—including government buildings, transport systems, and information technologies—that cater to the needs of all individuals, irrespective of their abilities.

He urged the government, the private sector, civil society organisations, the media, youth and women groups to collaborate in fostering an inclusive society where every Nigerian can thrive and contribute to national development.