CCD founder, Anyaele impels inclusivity amidst escalating disability figures
The Executive Director and Founder of the Centre for Citizens with Disabilities, Mr David Anyaele, has cautioned Nigerians against prejudice toward individuals with disabilities, underscoring that anyone can acquire a disability at any moment.
Anyaele observed that disabilities can stem from mishaps, violent assaults, structural collapses, conflagrations, and other unforeseen occurrences. He exhorted the public to embrace integration and treat individuals with disabilities with respect and dignity, accentuating that no one is immune to life-altering events.
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*Persons with Disabilities
Etim Ekpimah
The Executive Director and Founder of the Centre for Citizens with Disabilities, Mr David Anyaele, has cautioned Nigerians against prejudice toward individuals with disabilities, underscoring that anyone can acquire a disability at any moment.
Anyaele observed that disabilities can stem from mishaps, violent assaults, structural collapses, conflagrations, and other unforeseen occurrences. He exhorted the public to embrace integration and treat individuals with disabilities with respect and dignity, accentuating that no one is immune to life-altering events.
Speaking during a two-day seminar for individuals with disabilities, he disclosed that approximately 16 per cent of the global populace—around 1.3 billion people—live with some form of disability.
Citing World Bank statistics, Anyaele stated that approximately 29 million Nigerians were living with disabilities as of 2018. He further noted that the prevalence of disability in Nigeria continues to escalate due to persistent conflicts, violence, accidents, and a deficient healthcare system.
He elucidated that the seminar was crafted to furnish participants with the requisite knowledge to engage effectively and enhance public comprehension, ensuring they reap benefits from extractive industries operating within their state.
Anyaele also lamented societal dispositions toward individuals with disabilities, observing that many individuals endeavour to ostracise them rather than champion their integration.
The training, themed “Ending Barriers Against Niger-Deltans with Disabilities (EBAND),” concentrated on advocacy as a mechanism to spotlight the obstacles encountered by individuals with disabilities in the Niger Delta and to foster their involvement in decision-making processes.
One of the facilitators, Mr Godwin Olumere, underscored that individuals with disabilities must be actively engaged in societal processes if they are to benefit from developmental initiatives.
Olumere remarked that while transformation is constant, it may not favour individuals with disabilities without their participation. He warned that novel policies, including the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) 2021, are frequently enacted without their input, thereby establishing new frameworks of power, influence, and benefit-sharing that directly impact their lives.
He characterised advocacy as a pivotal instrument that empowers individuals with disabilities to demand accountability from stakeholders, articulate their concerns, and assert their rightful place in fostering progress.
“Others will persist in determining the destiny of individuals with disabilities if they remain silent and disengaged. Remember, nothing about us without us,” he proclaimed.
Olumere appended that the seminar would inform stakeholders on disability-related matters, assist in transforming unfavourable attitudes, address misconceptions, and influence legislators to promulgate inclusive policies. He also noted that it would support proponents advocating for legal and social reforms that prioritise the requirements of individuals with disabilities.
One of the attendees, Anietie Jackson, counselled others to eat adequately at home prior to engaging in advocacy. He added that they should dress appropriately, appearing neat and sharp rather than dishevelled, and leave their personal struggles at home.
According to him, they are not embarking on an advocacy mission to solicit food or money, and if the individual they are meeting offers them anything, they must politely decline, emphasizing that they must not be perceived as having ulterior motives.
