Daily Independent (Lagos)
2 December 2008
interview
Dr. James Adams, the founding Chairman of National Association of the Advancement of the Physically-challenged Persons, is an enlightened Nigerian with interest in uplifting those who have one difficulty or the other.
He has been agitating for the past four years for equal opportunities among the physically challenged and the able-bodied Nigerians. In this interview with TRAINEE REPORTER, Anthonia Soyingbe, he speaks on the objective of the organisation and his concerns on government's discriminatory policies against the physically challenged. He also speaks on the steps to be taken by his organisation if the trend persists. Excerpts:
Would you share with us the dream behind your organisation?
I am an intellectual. I didn't need anything to gear me up to form the association. I just needed to look at the society and see what was happening there. I know that the society is not on the right track. We formed this association because we realise that the physically challenged are neglected and they are not adequately represented. Ours is not a begging group. It is a group that is sensitising the government on the need for them to include the physically challenged people in all that matters in the country. We want the government to make policies that will favour the physically challenged people. We want the government of Nigeria to know that Nigeria is not only for the able-bodied men but it is also for the 'abnormal' men. The able-bodied men are just protecting their own interests and they see the physically challenged as useless. We want laws that will help address and favour the physically challenged.
When did this association formally commence?
We have been in existence for about four years now.
How do you define, who a physically challenged person is?
A physically challenged person is one, whose affliction substantially impairs his or her ability to perform at the normal level.
How far has your organisation gone since four years when you came into existence, to help the physically challenged in Nigeria?
We don't get into situation of helping people. We help articulate policies that will advance the cause of the physically challenged. We are not a humanitarian organisation. We are not interested in begging; we don't beg. We are an advocacy group, clamouring for change. We work with government, we write and we make suggestion that will advance the cause of the physically challenged. There is nothing like Government of National Unity when the physically challenged are not adequately represented. The society is not meant for those who are normal alone. It is also meant for those who are not normal.
Do you call the physically challenged people abnormal?
No!
But that is what you have just said.
The society believes that it is only the able-bodied men who are normal; they have forgotten God is the maker of everyone. The physically challenged are marginalised because they see them as abnormal beings. We want an affirmative action to correct the imbalance. We want the Federal Government to have an affirmative action towards this set of special creature. When you look at all the ministries, there is no access for these people. They don't even have access to the President and yet other groups have done that. The more we bring these people inside the system, the more people know that they exist in our society.
From all that you have said so far, your organisation is an advocacy group that helps articulate policies which advance the cause of the physically challenged people in Nigeria.
(Cuts-in) We don't donate clothes; we don't donate foods, and we don't beg for money. All we want is equality.
You have been clamouring on equality between the normal and the 'abnormal' people for four years. What are your achievements so far?
We have been working with our international friends, through United Nations and we are still working with them. We are going to fall back on the judicial process; take the Federal Government to the Supreme Court for them to make a determination, on who a citizen is.
If you are fair within yourself, do you think the physically challenged will perform effectively if they are saddled with responsibility?
It is not about performance, it is equality of choice. It is all about equality of choice. You cannot say subjectively what one can do alone but there must be an objective way of choice. What we want is equality of access and equality of choice. Very many people are impaired. Most of what we have in Nigeria are people who are intellectually impaired. A lot of governors are impaired but they are impaired in areas people think are not impairment. Many governors wear glasses because they can't see. Probably certain percentage of their sight is bad and if you remove those glasses you beat the hell out of them because they won't see you. A lot of them have one form of impairment or the other and it has a negative effect on their performance but we ignore them but neglect those who have one physical disability. In addition, physically challenged people are not just those born with disability. They are those who have one disability or the other. Many of us are physically challenged; some people are diabetic while some are hypertensive. All these are disabilities. What we are saying in essence is that many countries have an affirmative action for people who are physically challenged. We want the government of President Yar'Adua to emulate these nations and reposition the physically challenged in Nigeria. We want the physically challenged people to hold certain positions in our country. There are some women who have abandoned their children because they suffer from Polio and such children are crippled. We have a world-class scientist who is on wheel chair but yet he is performing well.
I will ask this question again for more clarification; do you think a man who has challenges physically can paddle the Canoe of this country?
There is nothing like abnormality within the physically challenged as long as they have their mental faculty functioning well. They are mentally fit. They have the ability, so we must give them the access. People with AIDS are considered by the World Health Organisation, as physically challenge. I don't consider myself as physically challenge but physically challenged people are those, whose ability substantially impairs them to function the ability to function is the key. It is not about their look. It is all about what they can offer.
There is no pre-condition that you must have two legs before you can become a governor in Nigeria. I don't think we have that in our constitution. Our constitution says nobody should be discriminated on the basis of his health, religion and everything else. Discrimination is a bad policy. We can't allow it to continue.
Looking at the current situation, do you think all these could be achieved in the country?
Why not? There was a time in this country when twins were killed. It is achievable; all the government needs to do is to know that Nigeria does not belong to only able-bodied men. We want people with one disability or the other to come out because things will work out well if they do. This country has provision for the blind, deaf and the lame but it is unfortunate that the provisions are not provided to those who need it. Can you imagine a blind man working with the ministry and climbing the stairs before he gets to his office? This is not fair enough for him. United Nations has provision for all these. You can't use the excuse of not having money to prevent people from achieving their own objectives. It is all about equal opportunities. That is why we want the government to create an affirmative law in other to address the historical discrimination. The United Nations was clear about this set of people and so we want what rightfully and legally belongs to them.
We want political appointments from the governor and even from the president himself. A lot of people fall under the category of the physically challenged. There are lots of physically challenged people who could head the Niger Delta Ministry and you will be surprise that they will perform exceptionally. Many people in the region have lost their hands and legs. If we don't speak up for them, I am very sure that the government will not consider them and they will be forgotten and lost in the whole mess.
We have a situation whereby people with one disability or the other go around to bed alms. Do you think that act is good enough for their advancement in the society?
This is happening because people have relegated them to the back and so they have no choice than to take to begging. People see them as an object they can use to validate their nonsensical belief. You want to use them as a tool to achieve your goal and they don't want that. They are not feeling bad; they just want to be considered. In every country, they are given opportunity, I don't think Nigeria should be an exception. We want a law that will validate these people and that is why we are urging President Yar'Adua not to leave office without doing this. He should create opportunity for them. We have great writers who are physically challenged and they are doing well. We want the physically challenged people to head key departments in this country. If we do a real census, we will see that people who fit into this section are much.
Your answer to my last question is that the society is responsible for begging among the physically challenged, are you passing the buck of the blame on the society for their begging for alms?
Most of these people fall below the poverty line. They are not given the option to go to school even when their parents can afford that. There are no amenities for them. You already know that they are special beings and so the government is meant to create an enabling environment for them and give them an equal choice.
You have not given me your stand on begging.
I am not in support of begging, neither am I against it. We are dealing with government policies, which are discrimination. My role is not to justify begging because I am not dealing with private lives. I deal with government policies. The government does not encourage people to go and beg neither do they encourage people to go and steal. I think they should answer that question.
Do you encourage the physically challenged to go into politics because that is a basic determinant of how far they can go politically?
There are certain criteria the law mandates people to have opened policies. The environment must create an enabling environment because you can't have an exclusive policy for a set of people. These people have been relegated to the back since and now the court will settle the matter for us. We want the Supreme Court to make a determination and see if physically challenged people are Nigerians. We encourage the physically challenged to get involved in all aspects of life.
We want Nigerians not to see them because of their physical challenge but to see them because of their ability and their competence. It is all about an opportunity for them to perform. We want them to have equal access irrespective of who they are. Let us go beyond people's ailment and look at the competence of their character. There was a time in this country when Army Generals were walking with aids. I am a spokesperson for this people I want to articulate on their behalf. I have been given opportunities to do important things and I have been given the opportunity to attend good schools. So, now I want government to make policies that will advance their causes.
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