An Examination of the Rights of Persons with Disabilities in Nigeria

Abstract

Rights are diverse and its vistas are wide. Persons with disabilities  (PWD) are members of the human race with full rights to the
enjoyment of the tenets of human rights. According to global estimates, 15% of the world population over 15 years old are persons with disabilities (PWDs). These persons suffer a great deal of injustice and discrimination as a result of their status. The rights of persons with disabilities are protected at every level of government. The Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities is the legal response of the international government to the injustices suffered by PWDs. Regionally, the African Union responded to this issue by adopting a Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights on the Rights of Persons
with Disabilities in Africa. While the Nigerian government has since enacted the Discrimination against Persons with Disabilities (Prohibition) Act in 2018, not much can be said about the implementation of the law. Despite these laws, the Nigerian government, policy makers and society perceives issues relating to persons with disabilities as charity and privilege and never as a matter of rights and responsibility. This paper comprehensively examines the provisions that make up the disability
rights in Nigeria with a view to assessing the adequacy of the laws by adopting a doctrinal legal method of analysis. The paper finds that not much has been done done as regards disability rights in Nigeria and thereby recommends a greater inclusion of disability in the government’s national development plan as to how government intends addressing equality and discrimination against people with disability.