Media group visits Tinubu, advocates PWD inclusion in key programmes

Journalists for Democratic Rights (JODER), a civil society organisation, has presented a report on the fundamental needs of persons with disabilities (PWD), to President Bola Tinubu.

The report, which captured the problems of PWD and their expectations from the government, was also presented to the national assembly.

Receiving the document on behalf of the president, Tunde Rahman, senior special assistant on media to Tinubu, said the new administration is committed to addressing challenges of PWD and vulnerable communities.

Rahman said the media should continue to spotlight the plights of PWD, to enable full incorporation into the economic and social spheres in the country.

Speaking while presenting the report, Adewale Adeoye, executive director of JODER, said over four million Nigerians are living with disabilities, adding that a chunk of them are battling exclusion.

Ibrahim Olarenwaju, senior special assistant to the president on legislative matters, received the report on behalf of the national assembly.

Olarenwaju said the president and the national assembly are aware of the situation of PWD, adding that they are prepared to prioritise their needs for greater socio-economic privileges.

The report highlighted the “training manual for journalists reporting PWDs, apart from the comprehensive information on the community support centre and awareness creation for children with disabilities recently set up in Lagos with the support of the Ford Foundation West Africa Region”.

“JODER highlighted in the report that Nigeria had already ratified the United Nations convention on the rights of persons with disabilities, the draft protocol to the African charter on human and peoples rights of PWDs, while at the local level, the Nigerian government has signed into law the discrimination against persons with disability (Prohibition) Act, 2018 plus the Lagos state special people law,” JODER said.

“JODER noted that some of the challenged were posted in the last national elections, in the same pattern for previous ones, when the Independent Electoral Commission (INEC) did not make provisions for PWDs to enhance their capacity to vote with ease.

“The Nigerian media has done a lot in promoting the rights of PWDs, but efforts are far from being enough.

“In some media spaces, PWDs are still considered as less important in the allocation of media space, stories concerning PWDs are treated as sudden events, not as a continuum of serious social and economic crises that the state itself needs to address.”