For those who don’t know Nigeria, and don’t know Nigerians, come with me on a ride through Abuja… I was visiting in December 2022 as part of my work at the European Disability Forum in the International Cooperation Team.
Blog post written by Phillipa Tucker – Coordinator Eastern and Central Europe, EDF | phillipa.tucker@edf-feph.org
During my few days in Abuja, I was grateful to meet with various #DisabilityRights groups and learn about the specific challenges being faced by persons with disabilities in Nigeria. Overall, the biggest challenge is the sheer enormity of the problem: in a large country with over 220 million people and widespread poverty, #DisabilityRights is not high on the agenda of many leaders. And, with more than an estimated 20 million people with disabilities, there is a need to scale up the great work that is being done. Let’s meet these heroes.
First, meet Ideh Oghenetega. Ideh is a young man who is passionate about getting kids into school through his organisation the Cedar Foundation for Disability. Ideh works tirelessly in a community that is not his own to ensure that children with disabilities get into school, and that children who have dropped out of school due to conflict and other pressures get back into education. When I ask why he shrugs: there is no reason except that he knows it is needed for someone to do this. Ideh joined as a guest for an award ceremony and left the event with an invitation for an all-expenses paid participation from the Director of the largest conference on human rights in Africa. Ideh is as smart, indefatigable and as dedicated a young leader as I have ever seen.
Next, meet two colleagues from the Advocacy for Persons with Albinism Network (APAN), Nnene Bassey and David Nwandu. Nnene and David are both persons with Albinism and fight for greater visibility and accountability to this community with a focus on the southeast of the country in the Delta region. This geographic area is plagued by pollution, acid rain (from mines) and high UV rates. These three factors all create a perfect storm that leads to high rates of skin cancer in the community. The lack of adequate skin protection from the rain, pollution and sun results in people with albinism developing skin cancer at very early age. So much so that according to experts, estimated life expectancy is now less than 40 years. Nnene and David want to build a small factory to make sunscreen, and sun protection clothing, but there is no funding for such things. The struggle for even some small resources is failing this community and their plight is going unnoticed. But Nnene and David are not going to give up. Giving up is not an option.
TRIGGER WARNING THIS PARAGRAPH ONLY SEXUAL VIOLENCE: Meet also the staff at CBM Global : Ekaete Umoh, Sulayman Ujah and the team. We start discussing gender and violence against women with disabilities: a global epidemic that we see everywhere. It is the levels of poverty here that makes families so desperate for assistance with caring for women with disabilities that some have even planned the rape of women with disabilities, to intentionally lead to pregnancy and a child that will care for the women. This equates to being birthed into a form of servitude. Changing this status quo remains a high priority for our colleagues at CBM Global and they talk about the ned for work that works with community, challenges stigma and deals with poverty. The ideas the team has, and the passion with which they talk gives us hope that one day we will see an end to these abuses.
Thankfully, the Joint National Association of Persons with Disabilities (JONAPWD) also exists here in Nigeria. This umbrella body of organisations of persons with disabilities across Nigeria has the daunting task of coordinating and networking the #DisabilityRights work across Nigeria. Led by Abdullahi Usman Aliyu (National President), JONAPWD tells how the team is working strategically to bring as many persons with disabilities and their organisations together to collectively create a critical mass to demand disability rights. Abdullahi and Adetunde Ademefun (Head of Secretariat/Director of Programmes), as with all the others, highlight poverty as more than contributing factor, but as THE factor that makes having a disability in Nigeria all the worse. Solving poverty might seem an impossible task, but they continue to work with anybody and everybody who will listen to improve the inclusion of persons with disabilities into every decision-making space.
As part of EDF’s work we also visited the European Union Delegation in Abuja and discussed with Ambassador Isopi on the collaborations between the Nigerian movement and the EU delegation. The Ambassador sincerely thanked the Nigerian colleagues for sharing their updates and data and expressed a commitment to #DisabilityRights. EDF shared our and designed new plans of working together with all stakeholders to ensure that the EU team are well placed to ensure the inclusion of #DisabilityRights into all their work.
These human rights defenders are part of a global movement. The stories here are not unique to Abuja. They are not unique to West Africa, nor Africa. We all hear similar stories in every part of the world, all the time. And they can be disheartening, but it is not in our nature to give up. The one thing that keeps us all going is that slowly but surely, we are achieving progress. Every day, somewhere on this blue planet, one of us persons with disabilities advances #DisabilityRights and the impact resonates and improves the lives of all of us.
The people I met in Abuja are just such people: people affecting change locally in Nigeria and as a result advancing the rights of all persons with disabilities everywhere. These teams are tenacious, dedicated and know exactly what needs to be done, and do not give up. I am excited to know them and their work, and glad that we have found some opportunities to collaborate going forward, so maybe next time you will come back again to Abuja with me, and next time there will be more sunscreen and less stigma.
How to contact these heroes:
- Ideh Oghenetega, Executive Director, Cedar Foundation for Disability, cedarfoundationfordisability@gmail.com
- Adetunde Ademefun, JONAPWD, ed@jonapwdng.org
- Nnene Bassey, Advocacy for Persons with Albinism Network, talk2meofgod@gmail.com
- Ekaete Umoh, Country Director, CBM Global, Ekaete.Umoh@cbm-global.org