REPORT OF ACTIVITIES OF THE JOINT NATIONAL
ASSOCIATION OF PERSONS WITH DISABILITIES
(JONAPWD)
2004 - 2009
PREPARED BY:
……………………
DANLAMI BASHARU
NATIONAL PRESIDENT
(JONAPWD)
OCTOBER 2009.
2004
In June 2004, the Joint National Association of Persons with Disabilities was ushered in as a
rejuvenated body at a national convention sponsored by the then Federal Ministry of Sports
and Social development in Minna, Niger State. The Convention brought together delegates
from over 30 states of the federation and Abuja FCT.
During the three-day convention, the constitution of the Association was reviewed and
approved by the delegates after which the care-taker committee which had been set up prior to
the Convention by the Ministry to look into the way forward for persons with disabilities in
Nigeria was dissolved. Elections for anew Executive Committee was then organised from
which emerged a new authority under the leadership of Danlami Basharu, Esq., as National
President, to run the affairs of the Association for four years, 2004-2008. The Convention
recognised and approved, for the first time, membership of the national association of persons
affected by leprosy. In effect, six disability groups were recognised, i.e., the blind, under the
Nigeria Association of the Blind (NAB), the deaf, under the Nigerian National Association of
the Deaf (NNAD), persons with physical disabilities, persons with spinal cord injuries, persons
with intellectual disabilities and persons affected by leprosy as well as all organisations or
associations of and for persons with disabilities in Nigeria.
It must be admitted here that although the Federal Government was instrumental in revamping
the association, as the umbrella body of and for people with disabilities, government did not
make any funding available to the association to run its affairs. The dogged determination of
concerned members of the Executive Committee and other members ensured that the
association lived up to its responsibility to its members. The last six months of 2004 were
spent on sensitising the public to the fact that JONAPWD had been rejuvenated and needed the
support of the public and authorities to survive and sustain itself. Certainly, the first few years
were fraught with difficulties due to the serious constraint of lack of finance. In 2004, even the
Ministry could not afford funds to organise the International Day of the Disabled (IDD), but
the National President was able to organise a press conference in Lagos in collaboration with
one of its affiliate members, the Spinal Cord Injuries Association of Nigeria (SCIAN) at its
centre in Amuwo Odofin, Lagos. This conference saw the beginning of serious campaign on
disability issues in the country as the media gave it full coverage.
2005
The watershed for JONAPWD came in 2005 when the then President, Olusegun Obasanjo,
allocated slots for persons with disabilities to be represented at the National Political Reform
Conference (NPRC) which took place between February and June 2005. The participation of
JONAPWD at the NPRC was fortuitous in that for the first time the civil society community in
Nigeria began to recognize the need to include disability as a major issue in all its discourse.
Following upon our participation such organisations like Actionaid became major partners
with JONAPWD and sponsored two programmes, one a press conference during the NPRC to
publicise JONAPWD’s progress at the NPRC and a press conference during the International
Day of the Disabled in December 2005 when the Ministry once again could not find the funds
to organise any activity. The position of persons with disabilities was prominently placed in
the front burner during the NPRC. The issue of sign language interpretation for the 3 million of
our members was pressed home so that as the conference progressed, space was allocated for
interpretation to take place and for the first time on a national level sign language interpretation
was beamed to the sitting rooms of millions of Nigerians thereby giving it a significant place in
the nation. Following a formal appeal from the association, the NTA was prepared to grant two
places for sign language interpreters to commence network interpretation.
A month before the NPRC, in January 2005, several members of the association were invited
to a seminar/workshop organised by the International Federation for Electoral Systems (IFES),
a USAID agency, to discuss the content of the Electoral Reform Act which was being debated
nationally. The idea was to revise the section dealing with persons with disabilities that had
been included in the 2002 Electoral Act with a view to strengthening the section. The end
result of the workshop was a new Section 57 of the Electoral Act 2006 which gave INEC the
duty of ensuring the full participation of persons with disabilities in the electoral process of
2007 through a conducive environment.
In May 2005, the Executive of JONAPWD was warmly welcomed to Gusau in Zamfara State
for a meeting. A courtesy visit was also paid to the governor, Alhaji Sani Ahmed Yerima. In
October of the same year, the National Executive Committee was inaugurated by the Hon.
Minister of Women and Social Affairs.
2006
2006 did not witness much activity within the association, suffice it to say that the President
and some members of the association were invited to represent the disability community at
some seminars and workshops. What was very significant about 2006 was that for the first
time, after several years, the Ministry, in conjunction with the Association, organised the
International Day of the Disabled, even though not on the exact day of the celebration. This
was significant considering the concerted pressure put on the Ministry to recognise the
International Day as an integral part of its agenda. It was also at the end of 2006 that
JONAPWD firmed up its partnership with PACT Nigeria, a USAID agency which was
concerned about promoting advocacy on disability issues in the country, especially around the
issues of inclusion and participation in the electoral process.
2007
The year 2007 commenced on a very hopeful note considering the fact that a month before
then JONAPWD had been accepted as a significant partner of PACT/USAID, a major
international development organisation. This is, in addition, to our being partners already with
ActionAid Nigeria and IFES.
Our engagement with these partners has enabled JONAPWD to be well and truly entrenched
within the civil society community in Nigeria which was, hitherto, not the case. The case has,
therefore, been strongly made that persons with disabilities have important issues that must be
addressed by the civil society, government and the general public. Several workshops and
seminars were organised by our partners during the course of the year, where the president or
his representatives, was required to attend. These included seminars and workshops on preand
post-election activities.
One notable activity was the interactive forum with politicians sponsored by PACT/USAID
which took place in Ilorin, Kwara State, in March at which about fifty persons with disabilities
were present to interact with some political parties. A follow-up and similar activity was
organized by the Kaduna State chapter of JONAPWD which turned out to be highly successful
with more than ten political parties in attendance. Prior to the Ilorin meeting, a successful
advocacy visit was paid to the Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission
(INEC) and his officials, also sponsored by PACT Nigeria. This enabled INEC to get a better
understanding of the problems faced by persons with disabilities in the electoral process.
Suffice it to say that several persons with disabilities attempted standing under different parties
during the 2007 elections but the lack of finance precluded many who were competent to
represent their people from getting in.
The coming in of the Yar’adua administration appears to give a ray of hope to persons with
disabilities because for the first time in the history of Nigeria, the organised assembly of
persons with disabilities was invited to audience in September with a sitting minister, i.e., the
Minister of Women Affairs and Social Development, Hajia Saudat Usman Bungudu who
warmly received persons with disabilities. Several requests were, of course, made to her. These
included the provision of office accommodation for JONAPWD in Abuja, the need for the
Ministry to pursue, through the National Assembly, the bill on the rights of persons with
disabilities and other international agreements on disability entered into by Nigeria, upward
review of the N100,000 annual subvention granted to NGOs on disability registered with the
Ministry, etc.
It is reassuring to note that the Minister fulfilled the promise of office accommodation as
JONAPWD now has an office space in the Women Development Centre, Suite 104, Gambo
Sawaba Block. Furthermore, the Policy Management Unit of the Rehabilitation Department of
the Ministry was charged with monitoring the progress of the bill at the National Assembly.
JONAPWD’s office is currently being manned by volunteers who are persons with disability
but we are in discussion with the Ministry to employ at least five persons with disability to be
seconded to the office.
Our engagement with the civil society was further bolstered also in September by our
invitation to the launching of a national development organisation, COALITIONS FOR
CHANGE, which aims to give a voice to the voiceless in the Nigerian society with a view to
becoming partners. With C4C, JONAPWD undertook some media visits and more importantly
participated in an advocacy visit to the Senate President, David Mark who received a copy of
the bill on the rights of persons with disabilities.
Two very significant interventions in November took place between ActionAid and the civil
society, including JONAPWD. The first was the civil society interactive forum with the House
of Representatives on 21st November at the conference hall of the House presided over by the
Speaker, Hon. Dimeji Bankole. The aim was to commence a process of dialogue with elected
members to make them understand the feelings of the general public as they prepare
legislation, particularly the reform of the 1999 constitution. JONAPWD decried the continued
marginalisation and exploitation of persons with disabilities and their lack of inclusion in the
national polity. More importantly, we deplored the absence of a Senate and House committee
on disability and called for the civil society and House of Representatives to support the need
for the creation of a separate ministry for persons with disabilities. At the end of the session a
communiqué was prepared in which the House of Representatives clearly supported the need
for a separate ministry for persons with disabilities and the establishment of a Senate and
House committee on disability. It was a very fulfilling forum for persons with disabilities and
Mr. Emeka Betran was nominated to represent the disabled on a committee of the House and
Civil Society to deliberate on follow-up activities. The bill on the rights of persons with
disabilities was distributed to several honourable members for their active support.
The second was a TWO-DAY CIVIL SOCIETY SUMMIT ON the 2008 BUDGET,
NOVEMBER 27-28, 2007. The workshop was held to get Civil Society input into the 2008
budget.
The International Day of the Disabled, 2007, was successfully held, in conjunction with
JONAPWD and the Ministry, on the 3rd of December with the minister’s representative
presiding. Also from 3rd
to 7th
December, ActionAid organised a one-week capacity training
programme (PARTNERSHIP ASSESSMENT AND DEVELOPMENT FRAMEWORK,
PADEF) for about fifteen officers and members of JONAPWD. The one-week programme
enabled JONAPWD to take stock of itself and develop a better vision, mission and values for
itself. It afforded members to understand clearly the need to be together as a body and speak
with one voice. Members implored ActionAid to make the training programme a periodic
affair in order to help improve the association.
On the international front, as is well-known to many of us, Nigeria, under the umbrella of
JONAPWD, was admitted as the 144th member of Disabled Peoples’ International (DPI). This
will afford Nigeria a more significant and respected voice and status in the international
disability community, along with other respected African countries.
2008
2008 began in January with Pact Nigeria engaging persons with disabilities on the issue of
mainstreaming into the electoral process. This was sequel to the announcement buy the
President setting up an Electoral reforms Committee. At a meeting in Abeokuta, Ogun State, a
memorandum was drafted by a cross section of JONAPWD members stating the position of
persons with disabilities. In March, 2008, the International Republican Institute (IRI), another
USAID agency, that had embraced JONAPWD at the end of 2007, took this a step further to
involve politicians at the National Assembly by organising a forum to bring together such
politicians to understand the need to mainstream persons with disabilities into the electoral
process. The event was attended by such personalities as Retired Supreme Court Justice Bola
Babalakin, a patron of JONAPWD and several National Assembly members. Following this
successful programme by IRI, the organisation also sponsored JONAPWD members to
participate at all the 12 centres of the Electoral Reforms Committee public hearing. This was
also supported by the Electoral Reforms Network, another partner of JONAPWD. This
exercise resulted in a tremendous awareness boost for the association and persons with
disabilities generally.
Friday, 29th
February, 2008, witnessed the inauguration of the Special Advisers forum
comprised of all special advisers to state governors on disability matters in the country. This
meeting was held in Ibadan, Oyo State, with the special advisers concerned and JONAPWD.
Mr. Ayodele Adekanmbi, Special Adviser to the Governor of Oyo State on Disability Matters,
was elected as the representative of the Forum on the JONAPWD Executive Committee.
Between the months of April and July, 2008, the Executive Committee met to deliberate on a
number of issues facing the association. Crucially, a Convention committee, under the
chairmanship of Prince Paul Adelabu, former National President, was set up to prepare for the
national convention of JONAPWD.
In the same period, Coalitions for Change intensified its support for JONAPWD in several
ways. JONAPWD, as a member of the Constitutional Review Dialogue Mechanism (CRDM),
an affiliate of C4C, organized its own constitutional review meeting in Enugu in August. With
the help of C4C, JONAPWD was able to organize several meetings around reform of the
association including giving a stamp of approval to the bill and critically reviewing the
association’s organisation. A committee on the latter prepared certain amendments to the
constitution which were put to the National Congress at the National Convention in November
2008 for adoption and ratification. Suffice it to say that the National Convention of
JONAPWD, 2008, was solely sponsored by Coalitions for Change. Apart from this, C4C also
sponsored members to attend several House of Representatives technical committee meetings
to discuss and fine-tune the bill to be placed before the public hearing. Danlami Basharu, Esq.
and Barr. Daniel Onwe represented persons with disabilities on the House of Representatives
Technical Committee looking at the National Disability Bill.
Between 19th
and 22nd
May 2008, Nigeria was represented at the LEONARD CHESHIRE
DISABILITY/UNECA CONFERENCE IN ETHIOPIA by three members of JONAPWD:
Danlami Basharu, Ekaete Umoh Davis and David Anyaele, who had all sourced for private
sponsorship to attend. The delegation was led by the Director of Rehabilitation of the federal
Ministry of Women Affairs and Social Development, Alhaji Mohammed Kalgo. The
conference brought together about seventy countries from round the world to discuss
essentially the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities
(UNCRPD) which came into force after ratification by twenty countries on the 3rd
May 2008.
An important activity took place in August 2008 at the Shehu Musa Yaradua Centre which
brought together many persons with disabilities from all over the country. This was the fund
raising event for the building of a welfare centre for persons with disabilities in abuja
organised by Senator Anthony Agbo, a trustee of JONAPWD. The occasion was graced by Her
Excellency, the First Lady, who was represented by the Youth Affairs Minister.
Miss Lucy Upah of the NNAD represented JONAPWD at the AFRICA REGIONAL
CONFERENCE ON MILLENNIUM DEVELOPMENT GOALS AND DISABILITY, held in
NAIROBI, KENYA, from 14TH
TO 19TH
SEPTEMBER 2008. She was sponsored by the
Federal Ministry of Women Affairs and Social Development.
A SIGNIFICANT activity took place on the 30th
October where JONAPWD in conjunction
with the International Republican Institute and the Peoples Democratic Party, came together to
find a way forward for the full participation of persons with disabilities in the political life of
the nation. In his address, the Chairman of the party promised to create a disability desk for
persons with disabilities at the party’s headquarters. However, there is also a need for the
creation, by all political parties, of disability wings in their parties. Further interactions with
other political parties in the country are expected to take place.
The International Day of Persons with Disabilities was celebrated once again by the Ministry,
in conjunction with JONAPWD on the 3rd
of December. One unique aspect of the celebration
in 2008 was the contribution made by the Association for the Comprehensive Empowerment
of Nigerians with Disabilities (ASCEND), an affiliate of JONAPWD, which engaged Senators
and other public figures to participate in an empathy simulation exercise tagged “a day with
disability” where these persons were made to simulate different forms of disability for a day.
Besides these major programmes, JONAPWD interacted with several other civil society
groups such as Alliance for Credible Elections and OSIWA (Open Society in West Africa),
amongst others.
It is unfortunate to report that JONAPWD closed the year 2008 with two terrible disasters.
First was the crisis in Jos, Plateau State, which claimed the lives of four deaf students and two
persons with physical disabilities at the University of Jos and others unaccounted for according
to reports received by the Special Adviser on Disability Matters to the Governor, Mr. James
Lalu, and secondly, the fire disaster at the sheltered home for persons with disabilities in
Kaduna, Kaduna State, which gutted the home and resulted in the deaths of about six members
and hospitalisation of several others. We want to use this opportunity to wish them a peaceful
repose of their souls and the ability for their families to bear the immense loss. May their souls
rest in perfect peace.
2009
The year 2009 commenced with a joint meeting of the Joint National Association of Persons
with Disabilities (JONAPWD) and the International Republican Institute (IRI) on Wednesday
21st
and Thursday, 22nd
January 2009 in Abuja. The meeting was to discuss forthcoming
activities of JONAPWD for the year with IRI and other international developmental partners.
It was concluded with a press conference. An invitation was extended to JONAPWD to pay a
courtesy visit to the Hon. Minister of Information and Communication on 3rd February 2009.
The delegation was headed by the National President. The Hon. Minister expressed her delight
at receiving the delegation and promised to do all that wasnecessary to advance the cause of
persons with disabilities. She further promised that sign language interpretation on NTA
network news would become a reality in no time.
JONAPWD paid a very successful courtesy visit to the Chairman of INEC, Prof. Maurice Iwu
on the 18th
of February. The Chairman promised to make the electoral process inclusive of
persons with disabilities particularly in the area of engaging persons with disabilities at INEC
offices and providing for sign language interpretation. He also promised to provide equipment
to furnish the office of JONAPWD. The promise to furnish the office of JONAPWD was
redeemed on 13th
October this year with a presentation ceremony at the INEC headquarters
with the Chairman presiding. Danlami Basharu, on behalf of JONAPWD, thanked the
Chairman and INEC for the magnanimous generousity of INEC and assured him of
JONAPWD’s continued support for his work particularly its new policy to include people with
disabilities in the electoral process. Items donated for he office included a computer unit, a
printer, scanner and photocopier.
On the 2nd
of March, 2009, the newly elected Executive Committee of JONAPWD was
inaugurated and sworn in by the Attorney-general and Commissioner for Justice of Oyo State
in Ibadan. The ceremony was sponsored by the Oyo State Government with the help of the
Special Adviser on Disability Matters, Mr. Ayodele ADekanmbi.
On the 12th
of March, Coalitions for Change launched a new coalition to take care of the
Affirmation of rights of persons with disabilities. The coalition referred to as the
AFFIRMATION OF RIGHTS OF PERSONS WITH DISABILITIES (ARPWD) brings
together the six national disability organisations as well ass representatives of government,
including the legislature and the executive and civil society partners. With support from
ARPWD, the National Association for Persons with Physical Disabilities has been properly
rejuvenated and a National Association for Persons with Intellectual Disabilities has been put
in place. Similarly, with support from ARPWD, JONAPWD presented a position paper to the
National Bureau for Public Service Reforms (NBPSR).
On 18th
March, 2009, the Action Congress/IRI/JONAPWD Round Table Conference took
place in Benin City, Edo State. This meeting was similar to that held between JONAPWD, IRI
and PDP in October 2008. The aim was to mainstream persons with disabilities into the Action
Congress for which promises were received from the leadership of the Action Congress.
In April this year, Nigeria was appointed as an Ambassadorial Country for the AU African
Decade of Persons with Disabilities. Following the failure of the Continent to implement
activities of the African Decade on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, the African Decade
Secretariat, in conjunction with other national umbrella bodies of persons with disabilities on
the continent, including Nigeria, lobbied the African Union to consider extending the decade
for another ten years. This request was granted last year. Nigeria’s nomination was
spareheaded by JONAPWD’s National Women Co-ordinator Ekaete Umoh Davis after a
training workshop in Sweden. Suffice it to say that Ekaete Umoh Davis is now also the
Secretary of the Panel of Experts on Resource Mobilisation of the African Decade of Persons
with Disabilities. This portfolio covers North, West and Central Africa.
From 19th
to 22nd
May, JONAPWD members participated in a programme organised by the
Christofel Blindenmission (CBM) in conjunction with several international disability
organisations. Present at the programme which was to present the importance of Communitybased
Rehabilitation, were representatives of the Federal Ministry of Women Affairs and
Social Development.
On Tuesday, 26th
May, the National president represented JONAPWD at the revision of the
National Action Plan of the Human rights Commission, a document to be presented at Geneva
on behalf of Nigeria. Suffice it to say that a disability desk has been established at the National
Human Rights Commission as well as a rapporteur on disability matters.
The National President was invited to present a paper on ACCOMMODATING PEOPLE
WITH DISABILITIES IN EMPLOYMENT AND DEVELOPMENT, a UNDP/ACTION AID
PROGRAMME from 8-9 JUNE 2009 and on the 8th
of July, JONAPWD, in conjunction with
the IRI, held a press conference to acknowledge the passage of the national disability bill by
the National Assembly. A statement released at the press conference called on the Assembly to
hastily harmonise the bill for its assent by the President. Two members of JONAPWD, the
Secretary-General and National Women Co-ordinator took part in a training programme on
Resource mobilization organised by Pact Nigeria on the 29th
to 3rd
of July 2009.
JONAPWD was also a significant participant at the Vision 20-2020 programme to draft a
position paper for the Special Interest Group of persons with disabilities in Nigeria. This event
took place in the month of July 2009.
On the 12th
of September 2009, the National Executive Committee meeting of JONAPWD
took place in Ibadan, Oyo State. This meeting brought together several members of the
Executive Committee where far-reaching decisions were taken. The meeting was sponsored by
the Affirmation of Rights of Persons with Disabilities (ARPWD) under Coalitions for Change.
On the 9th
of October, some members of JONAPWD, supported by the Affirmation of Rights
of Persons with Disabilities (C4C), took part in the Senate Retreat on Constitutional reform
that took place in Kaduna. On Wednesday, 14th
October, JONAPWD presented its position
paper on Electoral and Constitutional Reforms before the Senate Committee in Abuja. Finally,
on the 29th
October, JONAPWD members took part in the Nigerian Labour Congress rally
over the issue of petrol deregulation.
On the 11th
of November, a member of JONAPWD, Christian Agbo, successfully launched his
maiden magazine “Qualitative magazine” which was attended by all disability groups of the
umbrella body. The following day, 12th
November, JONAPWD was represented by Hon.
Dandeson N. Hart (Secretary-General), Prince Paul Adelabu (Immediate Past President) and
the staff of JONAPWD at an event organised by “Building HOPE for special learners”, a new
organisation for children with disabilities.
The Senate organised public hearings on elecftoral reforms in Kaduna and Abuja respectively
at which JONAPWD was represented. In Kaduna, several Executive Committee
members represented the Association, while in Abuja, at the International Conference Centre,
JONAPWD was led by the National President to present a position paper on behalf of persons
with disabilities. He was accompanied by the Secretary-General and the Immediate Past
President, as well as the Senior Project Officer for the Affirmation of Rights of Persons with
Disabilities of Coalitions For Change. The paper was well-received by the Senators present,
including the Deputy Senate President and Senator Dr. Bode Olajumoke.
As is the custom, 3rd
December, the International Day of Persons with Disabilities was well
celebrated. Three memberts of JONAPWD: the President, the Secretary-General and Chief
Cosmas Okoli were on the national television’s breakfast programme to talk about the day. A
grand programme was held at the Banquet hall, National centre for Women Development,
Abuja. It was chaired by the Honourable Minister for Women Affairs and Social Development.
A retreat was organised under the Affirmation of Rights of Persons with Disabilities for the
National Executive of the Joint National Association of Persons with Disabilities (JONAPWD)
and other stakeholders in Lokoja, Kogi State from the 9th
to the 12th
of December. The retreat
was to roundoff the year and help the Association to take stock of the past year and the way
forward.
Action Aid Nigeria also held a training session for Accountants at which the Account Officer
for JONAPWD participated in the training held in Ebonyi State from the 9th
to the 13th
of
December. The Association’s office closed on 22nd of December for the end of year.
APPOINTMENTS
We cannot conclude this report without reporting that over the past years, about eleven special
advisers on disability matters have been appointed to various state governors. These include:
Kano, Kebbi, Plateau, Adamawa, Bauchi, Oyo, Ogun, Edo, Kaduna, Kogi and Yobe states.
More are expected to follow.
These humble achievements could not have been realised without the full co-operation and
support of concerned and well-meaning persons with disabilities in our country. We have to
extend tremendous gratitude to our partners who believe in our ability and credibility. These
partners include international partners such as Action Aid, the International Republican
Institute, Pact Nigeria, DFID through Coalitions for Change, etc. Others include civil society
organisations like ElectoralReform Network (ERN), Alliance for Credible Elections (ACE),
the Nigerian Labour Congress the media, members of the National Assembly, the Federal
Ministry of Women Affairs and Social Development and the general public that has slowly
begun to be aware of our issues.