As the Senate indicates that it will soon send the Diability Bill for the President’s assent, it is reported that people living with disability now wait with bated breath as they envisage an end to discrimination and inequality.
Over the years, the need to defend the rights of people living with disabilities (PLWD) has been a cause of concern for many who had used every resources at their disposal to fight that anyone living with disabilities should be treated not with pity but with respect and given a chance to live like others who do not suffer the same fate.
The fight for justice and equality irrespective of physical condition was one that was spearheaded by organizations both governmental and nongovernmental organizations as well as activists based on the untold hardship encountered by PLWD in the course of their daily routine.
Many are stigmatized, discriminated against even by friends and family members and do not get equal opportunities as their contemporaries while many are hidden behind doors by their families, making many beggars and dependent on handouts from others.
This led to the revolution and advocacy for the promulgation of laws that can ensure that their lives will be comfortable as well as it can be while many law suits were filed by many activists to ensure that PLWD can attain their dreams without facing undue challenges in the society through provision of amenities that will aid their activities towards developing themselves to be responsible and independent citizens in the country.
Indeed, it is not too much to ask. Even the law is conscious of this; a
Charter of the United Nations provides for the inherent dignity and equal inalienable rights of all members of the human society as the bedrock of freedom, justice, development and peace globally though this seems not to be respected within many communities in Nigeria.
This is the reason that many activists have been fighting for a law that will aid the cause of PLWD since the inception of democracy. At the forefront of this fight is a legal practitioner, Daniel Onwe of Daniel and Sophina Chambers who had shown great passion and commitment to the cause of PLWD, as someone that had gone through similar challenges and understood their plights.
Tribune