13th November, 2015
The United States Special Advisor for International Disability Rights, Ms Judith Heumann, has advised President Muhammadu Buhari to ensure that laws protecting the rights of persons with disabilities are properly enforced.
Heumann, who is also disabled, gave the advice on Friday in a teleconference from Washington DC with selected journalists from across Africa in Lagos.
The special advisor also called on the new administration in Nigerian to urgently focus on the development of the country’s infrastructure. “I would advise the government to be working actively and closely with disabled peoples’ organisations.
“I would recommend to the government that they look at what infrastructure they currently have in place in Nigeria.
“This is to ensure that major agencies in Nigeria are clearly aware of the fact that their agencies have the responsibility to ensure that both laws that exist are appropriately enforced.
“The government should also ensure that where new laws needed to be developed, such laws must be developed in conjunction with the parliament,” she said.
Heumann said it was imperative for the government to work closely with civil society organisations in understanding the high level of stigmatisation and marginalisation of disabled persons.
The US official also enjoined the government to come up with measures, aimed at providing employment and education opportunities for its citizens.
“We received a report this week about a programme for deaf individuals in Nigeria, which talked about terrible conditions that these deaf students were living in.
“And I am hoping that the government will be looking into situations like this, to be able to proactively identify these types of problems and tackle them,” she said.