The Centre for Citizens with Disabilities (CCD) has said that the implementation of the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) will be incomplete without consideration for Persons With Disabilities (PWDs).
The CCD’s Acting Director, Mr Godwin Unumeri, said this at an advocacy workshop on the inclusion of PWDs in the PIA benefit structures in the Niger Delta region, organised in Owerri, on Friday, by the centre, with support from Ford Foundation.
Unumeri, represented by the centre’s Finance and Administration Manager, Mrs Florence Austin, said that the Act was necessitated by the need for the inclusion of the oil producing communities for the benefits of accruing from oil exploration.
He said that it would, therefore, be unfair to include interest groups, such as traditional rulers, women and youth groups, while excluding PWDs with obvious peculiarities.
According to him, sustainable development is only possible when it is inclusive, hence the need to give PWDs a sustainable voice through legitimate inclusion in the PIA benefit structures.
“A development process that leaves out PWDs is incomplete and ultimately unjust.
“The vision we must collectively pursue is one where PWDs are not passive beneficiaries but active participants and decision-makers in the development of their communities.
“This exclusion is not just a development oversight; it is a violation of our fundamental rights as enshrined in the Nigeria’s legal and policy frameworks, including the Discrimination Against Persons with Disabilities Act and international commitments, under the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities,” Unumeri said.
He urged PWDs to remain open, curious, engage constructively with government and other notable stakeholders, challenge assumptions and commit to actionable outcomes.
Also speaking, the CCD’s Programme Officer, Christiana Njoku, advised PWDs to embrace self advocacy to enable them to overcome perceived discrimination in areas, such as access to jobs and government grants.
Njoku hoped athat the National Assembly would expedite work on amendments to the PIA to incorporate benefits for PWDs.
Also, the Chairman, Joint National Association of Persons With Disabilities,ll Mr Chidubem Ekwelem, thanked CCD for advocating for the rights of PWDs.
He also thanked the Imo Government for giving attention to their needs, while urging PWDs to pursue their goals with utmost civility.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that among those present at the two-day workshop were representatives of various PWD clusters drawn from various council areas of the state.
