Nigerian lawmakers set to take part in disability simulation

From This Day online in Nigeria:

Chairman of the Senate Committee on Navy, Senator Bode Olajumoke, has said that about 10 Senators have so far expressed their preparation to subject themselves to a day on wheelchairs, have themselves blindfolded or their ears plugged for a day in solidarity with the 19 million physically-challenged population in the country.

Olajumoke said that members of the House of Representatives were being reached to participate in the proposed one-day Disability Experience by members of the National Assembly scheduled to hold on December 3.

He said the event was being planned by the Association for Comprehensive Empowerment of Nigerians with Disabilities (ASCEND) in collaboration with Mobility Aid and Appliances Research and Development Centre (MAARDEC).

Speaking at a press conference yesterday in Abuja , Olajumoke who was flanked by members of the Executive body of ASCEND under the Presidency of Mr. Cosmas Okoli, stated that 10 Senators so far had accepted to participate.

He said that more senators and members of the House of Representatives were being reached to participate in the project.

According to him, "In the days to come, we will make public the distinguished Senators and Honourable members who have volunteered to participate in the project, as well as the full activities that will feature during the event."

He explained that the event was being organized by ASCEND in collaboration with the MAARDEC "which is providing technical and professional support."

Olajumoke said that the project entailed that the volunteer senators and members of the House of Representatives would "attend to their normal daily activities on the 3rd of December, 2008 either on a wheelchair, blindfolded, or with plugged ears."

According to him, "December 3 every year is a day set aside by the United Nations as International Day for persons with disabilities and this is why we have chosen the date for this unique and novel project.

"The members of the press will have the privilege to follow the legislators, right from their homes, to their offices and the chambers to see how they cope and the challenges they will encounter."

He said the exercise was to make the legislators wear temporarily the shoes of persons with disabilities "so that they can appreciate how much they hurt and see the need to domesticate the United Nations Conventions on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, pass the disabilities bill, which will, among others, establish disability Affairs Commission and help them at all times, factor in the interest of persons with disabilities in the discharge of their legislative functions.

"It is also aimed at sensitizing the Executive on the need to establish the Disability Affairs Commission, inspire the sense of belonging in persons with disabilities who would watch their legislators identify with what they go through every single day of their lives, create awareness on the plight and prospects of persons with disabilities and point out the structural deficiencies in the National Assembly complex and other public buildings."

Mr. Okoli expressed joy over the positive response the planners of the event were getting from the legislators, stressing that everything possible should be done to turn the 19 million disabled population in the country into active, productive sector of the society for the betterment of the nation.