By Nkechi Eze
A Professor of Industrial and Security Education at the Institute for Peace and Strategic Studies, University of Ibadan, Tajudeen Akanji, has called on the Federal Government to adopt provisions of the United Nations Climate Change Act, 2021, particularly those addressing the needs of Persons with Disabilities (PWDs).
Akanji, who is also a Principal Researcher working with Professor Nidhi Singal, a Professor of Disability Education at the University of Cambridge, made the call during the ongoing Inclusive Climate Action Resilient Education (I-CARE) Workshop in Ibadan, Oyo State.
He stressed the need for governments at all levels to prioritise the needs of persons with disabilities in climate change policies and interventions, noting that deliberate measures were required to make it easier for them to cope with the impact of climate change on their livelihoods and wellbeing.
The university don also called for stronger institutional commitment to disability inclusion, particularly in the formulation and implementation of policies addressing climate change, education and social development.
The organiser of the workshop, Dr Basirat Razaq-Shuaibu, said the symposium was designed to facilitate critical policy dialogue on climate change, education and disability planning in Nigeria, while strengthening institutional capacity to design and support disability-inclusive, ethical and equity-focused research.
The Director General of the Oyo State Agency for Persons with Disabilities, Ayodele Adekanbi, represented by a Rehabilitation Officer, Rilwan Babalola, and the Oyo State Commissioner for Women Affairs and Social Inclusion, Alhaja Joke Sanni, represented by the Director of Community Development, Lateef Oyediji, also stressed the importance of data gathering and deliberate inclusion of persons with disabilities in government policies.
They noted that persons with disabilities had been considered in recruitment exercises in Oyo State and would also be considered in the payment of N-Care stipends.
One of the panelists and a person with albinism, Muyiwa Abegunde, urged governments to prioritise and respect the rights of persons with disabilities, rather than treating disability inclusion as an afterthought.
He called for a more deliberate approach to ensuring that persons with disabilities were adequately represented in policies and programmes designed to address social and environmental challenges.
The I-CARE Workshop, which commenced on Monday in Ibadan, is expected to end on Friday and has drawn participants from states across the South-West, including policymakers and researchers.
