MANDATE PROTECTION CONTINUES EVEN AFTER ELECTIONS:

MANDATE PROTECTION CONTINUES EVEN AFTER ELECTIONS:
Many will agree that Nigerians more freely gave their mandates to political parties and candidates of their choice during the 2015 general elections than ever before when they helplessly watched  their mandates stolen in broad day light.
 the electoral reforms designed and implemented by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and the determination of the Nigerian electorates to "protect their mandates" ensured that the 2015 general elections was largely freer, fearer  and more credible as adjudged by local and international observers. The elections produced leaders who appears to have been truely elected by the people.
By freely and truely electing our leaders, we have indeed protected our mandates. But does mandate protection end with freely and truely electing our leaders?
Lets all recall that during the build-up to the 2015 general elections, political parties and candidates made series of electoral promises. We should also recall that political parties presented their manifestos; and in some cases, parties and candidates signed "pacts"with citizens at various levels; committing themselves to upholding the fundamental principles and practices of democratic good governance.
Now that the storm of electioneering is over and the waves of politics are subsiding, the actual business of governance should commence. This is the time for all Nigerians to truely stand up to protect their mandates. This is the time to hold political parties and elected leaders accountable to their manifestos and campaign promises.
mandate protection continues even after elections. We must ensure that:
1. our elected leaders remain with us and continue to live with us within our local communities.
2. our elected leaders declare their assets and disclose their official remuneration and allowances.
3. our elected leaders return to us regularly (in our varius constituencies) to ask for our needs and take our voices and views on issues, policies and programmes of government.
4. our elected leaders, especially those at state and national legislature open Constituency offices through which the citizens meet and communicate with them
5. we the citizens know the names and contacts (phone and email) of our elected leaders as well as location of their Constituency offices.
6. we the citizens refrain from making spurious personal monetary and material demands from our elected leaders.
7. we the citizens pay attention to, monitor and evaluate the actions and inactions of our elected leaders and regularly provide them with documented feedbacks.
8. we the citizens pay attention to, monitor and evaluate the preparation and implementation of our annual budgets at local, state and national levels; including the emmanating policies, programmes and projects of government (including awarded contracts) within and outside our constituencies as well as draw the attention of our elected leaders to issues concerning them.
9. Above all, we the citizens must be prepared to vote them out if they fail us, or be willing to renew their mandates if they satisfy us.
This is how to protect our mandates!

Participation of PWDs in the Electoral Process

2015 General Elections in Nigeria Inclusion and Access for Persons with DisabilitiesParticipation of PWDs in the Electoral Process

IDENTIFYING AND GAINING SUSTAINABLE INCLUSION AND ACCESS INTO OPPORTUNITIES AVAILABLE TO BLIND PERSONS IN THE NIGERIAN ECONOMY

How can We Support our Leaders Against Terrorism in Nigeria?

Nigerians want to support their president, government and military to fight terrorism to a
total stop. But the bad governance, leadership lawlessness, the corruption, the impunity, and
the real terror (poverty and denial of fundamental human rights) inflicted on Nigerians by
those elected and appointed to govern have destroyed our confidence and trust in them.
The citizens of the US and UK support their governments against terrorism because terrorism was
not caused by bad governance, leadership lawlessness, corruption, impunity, poverty, high
illiteracy, high unemployment, etc.
but terrorism has found its way into Nigeria because:
there is a near total loss of true loyalty and patriotism of Nigerians to the Nigerian state;
the nation's wealth is circulated among only less than 5% (political elits);
the only opportunity for the citizens to aer their voices (during elections) are subverted
through rigging and intimidating militarization;
endemic corruption prevails and evidently corrupt public office holders go unponished;
politicians hold office for four or eight years and become billonaires while civil servants
work for 35 years and have their pentions stolen;
leaders celebrate paper developmental achievements with little or no real evidence to show;
the children of the rich and wealthy arrogantly display and waist the nation's resources stolen
by their parents to the oppression and envy of the children from poor parents;
the children of poor people and their parents resort to self help through criminal activities;
opposing political groups who no longer have confidence in the polity resort to self help
through various forms of aggression against the state;
those in government play the politics of self denial, political propaganda and psychofancy, and
blame trading about the reality of terrorism;
the realities of politically motivated accute ethno-religious fundamentalism; and
the challenges of a badly socio-economically and politically structured Nigerian federation.
The list of the causes of terrorism in Nigeria is indeed endless.
But the dilema confronting the Nigerian people is the challenge of determining which of the two terrorists to fight; the terror inflicted by those in government, or those inflicted by insurgence.

RELEVANCE OF DISABILITY LEGISLATIVE AND POLICY FRAMEWORKS TO THE TELECOMS INDUSTRY

DR. ADEBUKOLA ADEBAY (PhD)
Executive Secretary, Lagos Civil Society Disability Policy Partnership
(LCSDPP)
BEING A PAPER PRESENTED AT
A ONE-DAY CONFERENCE
ON INCLUSIVE AND ACCESSIBLE TELECOMS SERVICES IN
NIGERIA
HELD AT
SHERATON HOTEL
IKEJA, LAGOS.
DATE: 7TH MARCH, 2013

OUTLINE
· WHY ARE WE HERE?
· SCENARIOS OF EXCLUSION

· IMPLICATIONS OF EXCLUSION AND INACCESSIBILITY
· LEGISLATIVE AND POLICY RESPONSE
- UNITED NATIONS CONVENTION ON THE RIGHTS OF
PERSONS WITH DISABILITIES (UNCRPD)
 THE LAGOS STATE SPECIAL PEOPLE’s LAW 2011
· WHAT TELECOMMS COMPANIES CAN DO
· CONCLUSION
WHY ARE WE HERE?
We are here to discuss how over twenty five million (25,000,000) Nigerians
living with disabilities can begin to have equal and unhindered access to
telecoms services and substantial inclusion and participation in the telecoms
industry just as their non-disabled counterparts.
The UN, WHO and World Bank have, in various researches established that
at least 10% of human population at various geo-political levels (global,
continental, regional/sub regional, national local, etc) is constituted by
persons with disabilities (PWDs). However, this percentage rises up to 20%
in less developed countries due to high prevalence of diseases, violent
conflicts and low response to natural disasters; as well as inadequate access
by citizens to basic life needs: water, shelter, food, education primary health
care, social and economic infrastructure one of which is telecommunication
services and infrastructure.
Research findings have shown that failure to guarantee inclusion and access
of PWDs to basic social and economic services and infrastructure will
rapidly reverse the positive impacts of the numerous Corporate Social
Responsibilities and Initiatives embarked upon by corporate businesses and
organizations as well as policies and programmes of government at all
levels.
Several billions of dollars spent by Corporate Businesses and Governments
on education, ICT, health, gender and social inclusion, social infrastructure,
agriculture, climate change and environmental protection, etc will almost
amount to waste if more than 20% of the population are neglected.

SCENERIOS OF EXCLUSION
• Why give scholarship to PWDs when you can’t give them equal
employment opportunities?
• Why do we support school projects (classrooms, instructional
materials, etc) which can’t be used by children and youths with
disabilities?
• Why build public and school libraries which can’t be accessed and
used by those on wheel chairs, the blind the deaf, etc?
• Why do we build Corporate Headquarters and Customer-Care Centres
which can’t be accessed and used by those on wheel chairs, the blind,
the deaf, etc?
• Why do we support the building of roads, pedestrian bridges, jetties
and other public transport facilities which can’t be used by those on
wheel chairs, the blind, the deaf, etc?
• Why do we support youth and women empowerment,
entrepreneurship and employability skills development initiatives
without due considerations for the involvement and participation of
women and youths with disabilities?
• Why do we support primary health care programmes where women
and children with disabilities can’t be given proper treatment because
there are no accessible infrastructures and human capacity to do so.
• Why do we support sports development without extending same to the
provision of adaptive/special sports facilities for use by sports men
and women with disabilities who have won several laurels for the
country even more than their non-disabled counterparts?
• Why do we support music, art and other entertainment programmes
which exclude persons with disabilities?
ABOVE ALL!
• Why do we provide telecoms and other related services
(telephone, internet, etc) to the public without making due
accessibility provisions for all including persons with disabilities?
IMPLICATIONS OF EXCLUSION AND INACCESSIBILITY
Sustained exclusion and inadequate access of PWDs to basic social and economic
services and opportunities such as those provided by the telecoms industry will
lead to:
• At least 20% of the population in Nigeria with low productivity
with little or no income to afford basic life needs including
telecoms services. This situation is likely to rise to over 30% in the
next five to ten years with multiplier effects on immediate family
members especially where such PWDs have dependants.
Accordingly, telecoms market size will constantly shrink; leading
to market crises.
• Increase in the prevalence rate of disability due to worsening
conditions of natural disasters, diseases and violent conflicts will
reduce the quality and quantity of human resources. Exclusion of
PWDs from education and employment opportunities will worsen
the inevitable labour crises.
• Failure to guarantee inclusion and access for PWDs promotes
increase in poverty and worsening poverty levels increases
disability prevalence rate. With more PWDs faced with increasing
exclusion and inaccessibility, the society, the market, the economy
and the nation is the worse for it.

LEGISLATIVE AND POLICY RESPONSE
Disability issues are no longer reduced to charity. Disability issues are now strictly
social and human rights issues. This is because if you are not infected by disability,
you are affected by it just as HIV/AIDS, malaria, climate change, gender
discrimination, etc.
World leaders, Governments, Business and Civil Society Organizations have
realized the numerous significant social and economic benefits in guaranteeing and
sustaining inclusion and access for PWDs in all spheres of life.
Everyone has come to terms with the dangers of rendering over 20% of the world’s
population unproductive and dependent on others.
It’s a “win-win” situation for us all if PWDs are made productive members of the
society; contributing immensely to growth and development of businesses and
industry, government, education, technology, health, sports, arts and entertainment,
etc.
The UN, World Bank, International Development Agencies, Multinational
Corporations, developed nations, and even few developing nations are beginning to
provide legislative and policy responses to protect the rights of PWDs; making
them less dependent and more productive.
• UNITED NATIONS CONVENTION ON THE RIGHTS OF PERSONS
WITH DISABILITIES (UNCRPD)

Nigeria has ratified and signed the UNCRPD and is obliged to ensure compliance
by its Ministries, Departments, and Agencies, state and local governments,
corporate business and civil society organizations to its provisions.
Key guiding principles of the UNCRPD include:
a) Respect for inherent dignity, individual autonomy including the freedom to
make one’s own choices, and independence of persons;
b) Non-discrimination;
c) Full and effective participation and inclusion in society;
d) Respect for difference and acceptance of persons with disabilities as part of
human diversity and humanity;
e) Equality of opportunity;
f) Accessibility;
g) Equality between men and women;
h) Respect for the evolving capacities of children with disabilities and respect for
the right of children with disabilities to preserve their identities.
Articles 9, 21 and 27 of the UNCRPD on “Accessibility; Freedom of expression
and opinion, and access to information; and, Work and employment” respectively
without prejudice to other sections of the Convention, are quite relevant to the
telecoms industry e.g. Employment of persons with disabilities in the private and
public sectors.

• THE LAGOS STATE SPECIAL PEOPLE’s LAW
While the Federal Government of Nigeria is on the verge of domesticating the
UNCRPD through an Act of the National Assembly, few States in Nigeria
including Lagos State have taken this noble initiative.
The Lagos State law is relevant to the telecoms industry because:
• More than 90% of telecoms service providers, operators and other
stakeholders have their corporate headquarters in Lagos State; and
• Lagos State hosts nearly 50% of the telecoms markets in Nigeria.
The Lagos State Special People’s Law 2011 substantially upholds the principles
and provisions of the UNCRPD.

WHAT TELECOMS COMPANIES CAN DO
• Develop and implement inclusive business policies which take cognizance
of the needs and interests of PWDs. There is need to include “Special
Indicators” in your Strategic business and management plans to guarantee,
track and monitor access and inclusion of PWDs in all aspects of your
business. Consulting with Disability groups is very important at this point.
• Ensure that all telecoms services and products are accessible, inclusive and
affordable to PWDs.
• Provide employment opportunities to qualified PWDs
• Make your work place environment (offices, equipments, personnel, etc)
accessible and inclusive.
• Make access and inclusive key criteria for planning and implementing all
Corporate Social Initiatives/responsibilities.
• Partner with Civil Society Organizations, the Media and Government to
conduct advocacies (public campaigns, public enlightenment, capacity building,
provision of assistive aids and technologies, fund raising, etc) in
order to promote access and inclusion for PWDs.
• Do you know you can deploy your recharge cards, SMS and other
advert/marketing instruments as Disability Advocacy Tools?

CONCLUSION
the commercial opportunities for mobile service providers, manufacturers and
smart phone application developers are significantly substantial, considering that
over 20% of Nigeria’s population, or over 25 million people, have a disability that
affects their access to modern communications, Senior citizens and people with
physical or mental disabilities are often unable to access mobile phones because
the equipment lacks the necessary accessibility features or because the price of the
adapted phones and services remain unaffordable.
It is therefore somewhat surprising that enhanced-accessibility should remain a
relatively undeveloped segment of the market. The good news is that the
technology to make mobile phones and services accessible is becoming more
developed and available.

OPENING DOORS AND BREAKING DOWN BARRIERS TOWARDS INCLUSIVE CLIMATE CHANGE AND EMERGENCY RESPONSE POLICIES FOR ALL IN LAGOS STATE THE NEED FOR MULTI-STAKEHOLDER RESPONSE AND COLLABORATIONS

PAPER PRESENTED AT
ONE-DAY
PUBLIC POLICY DIALOGUE
ON
MAIN-STREAMING DISABILITY ISSUES IN CLIMATE CHANGE PROGRAMMERS
AND POLICIES
ORGANIZED BY
DISABILITY POLICY AND ADVOCACY INITIATIVE (DPAI)
AND
POLICY ADVOCACY PARTNERSHIP ON CLIMATE CHANGE (PAPCC)
HELD AT
KNIGHTBRIDGE HOTEL, TOYIN STREET, IKEJA, LAGOS, NIGERIA
DATE: 10TH DECEMBER, 2013
Introduction:
Like Governor Babatunde Fashola (SAN) would say, “If you disbelieve what I say, you
can’t disbelieve the fact that the climate is changing and that it is impacting in various
ways on everybody” including PWDs. It is not only worsening the socio-economic
conditions in which PWDs live in, it also a fact that climate change impacts is one of the
factors which has been contributing the steady rise in the population of PWDs due to
natural and man-made disasters.
On the 6th of November, 2013, we engaged leaders of the disability community in Lagos
state with a view to feeling their understandings on climate change, emergency
management and other related issues. The big questions for our audience at that
meeting was “How does climate change impact on PWDs? And how has PWDs been
coping and responding to the impacts of climate change?” We also sought to know what
PWDs think the Government and other stakeholders should do to mitigate the impacts
of climate change on their community.
Our major discovery at that workshop was that PWDs, which constitute nearly 15% of
the entire population of Lagos State know very little about the fundamentals of climate
change, emergency response and other related matters.
The reasons for this are not far fetched. In most cases, PWDs are often the least
considered in the disagrigation of demographic features of any population by policy
makers, service providers, researchers, advocates, etc. This is also responsible for the
inability of governments and the larger society to connect PWDs with contemporary
global issues and challenges such as climate change, HIV/AIDS, reproductive health,
gender and other social inequalities, etc.
However, with the establishment of the UN Convention on Rights of Persons with
Disabilities (UNCRPD) in 2006, and the enactment of the Lagos State Special People’s
Law in 2011, experts on disability issues have been doing so much to guide the thinking
of policy makers, service providers, researchers, advocates and other stakeholders
especially in the development sector on the need to evolve inclusive approaches to
policies and programmes.
Accordingly, our goal at this meeting is to explore a policy-based multi-stakeholder
approach towards opening doors of opportunities to PWDs and breaking down all
barriers which may hinder their effective inclusion in the mitigation of climate change
impacts and access to emergency services where the need arises.
Who are the Stakeholders?
As far as climate change and emergency response issues are concerned in Lagos
state, we recognize that the Lagos State Ministry of the Environment and the Lagos
State Emergency Management Authority (LASEMA) are the most critical. Other MDAs
with very significant roles include those in charge of disability affairs, youths and social
development, agriculture, rural development, housing, transport, women affairs and
poverty alleviation, education and waste management. This is with out any prejudice to
the roles and responsibilities of other line ministries, departments and agencies of the
Lagos State government such as those in charge of information/media, finance,
economic planning and budget, etc whose statutory responsibilities cut across the
duties of those mentioned here.
What are the Issues for PWDs?
The issues for PWDs are as numerous and diverse as nature itself. As such, time and
space may not allow us to exhaust them. However, we shall highlight some we consider
as very critical.
1. Safe environment: No matter what government say or does, our environment
will remain unsafe to PWDs and the larger society if drainages remain opened or
uncovered. All drainages in streets and high ways should be properly covered to
prevent dumping of refuse, serve as good walk-ways and prevent accidents to
PWDs and other road users.

2. Access to daily means of livelihood: While the obvious challenges of
infrastructure and technology continue to reduce access of PWDs to the public
transport systems, the challenges of travelling long distance for the purpose of
earning a living continues to drive countless PWDs into abject poverty. As such,
conscious efforts should be made to create choices or alternatives of localized
jobs, small and medium scale business, farming, etc to PWDs situated within
their residential localities. This strategy will be most applicable to PWDs with
significant mobility challenges. This will reduce loss of income due to climate
induced disasters like floods.

3. Access to affordable housing: As the fear of climate change induced floods
compel property owners situated in flood-prone areas to build inaccessible
barriers around their residential buildings, PWDs can only look up to respites
from the various on-going government housing schemes which are not likely to
be in flood-prone areas and are more likely to comply with relevant accessibility
provisions of the Lagos State Special People’s Law. The government should also
put up programmes to support property owners who are willing to remodel and
improve the accessibility of their properties to accommodate PWDs.

4. Emergency Management: Although LASEMA seem to be quite informed about
being inclusive in its emergency management policies and programmes, the
practicability of this inclusive is yet to be demonstrated. However, we don’t need
to wait for an emergency to occur before this can be demonstrated. LASEMA
should begin to engage with communities of PWDs in Lagos state for the
purpose of awareness creation, enlightenment and capacity-building, as well as
preparedness for unexpected situations. We reiterate that this action is taking too
long to come if any, as disasters like floods and/or rain storms induced building
collapse, fire, heavy rains, etc some times don’t announce their occurrences.

5. Education: There are no evidences to show that our children with disabilities in
Lagos State Inclusive and Special Schools are engaged in extra-curricula
activities on climate change and emergency management. I'm aware that an
Agency of Lagos State government has been working with public schools on
issues of emergency, safety and security among others; but there isn't any
records to show that inclusive and special schools are being included. This is
either because there is no capacity to do so, or probably because those in
charge don’t even think the these children need such education. Often times, this
is where exclusion begins.

6. Access to Information: Often times, the media, policy-makers and other experts
on climate change, emergency management and other related issues are
unaware of the fact that PWDs also need to be informed about these issues. As
such when designing advocacy, public enlightenment and other communication
materials, specific needs of PWDs are never taken into account. It is important
that designers of these materials should understand the various disability-based
information accessibility needs. We should know that bill boards will not serve the
blind; radio will not serve the deaf; information written or spoken in very complex
English will not serve those with intellectual disabilities; PWDs with lower literacy
levels will require interpretations in local languages; etc.

7. Gender-based Interventions: Women with disabilities should be engaged when
programmes which target women are designed and implemented. Our women
face the challenges of access to water; they also use energy for domestic
purposes; and they are often worse affected when climate change or natural
disasters destroy means of livelihood. While it is sometimes easier for non-disabled
women to get back into life after disasters, women with disabilities often
times, never survive because they are neither included in most post-disaster
relief programmes nor in the regular women empowerment programmes.

Conclusion:
From the foregoing, we can see that only a policy-driven multi-stakeholder approach
can effectively open doors and break down most of the barriers which excludes PWDs
from participating in, and benefiting from climate change and emergency management
programmes and policies of government.

All relevant MDAs of the Lagos State Government need to come together under a
technical working group to ensure that PWDs are effectively main-streamed in these
very critical policy areas.