Lawyers With Disabilities Express Disappointment Over Exclusion And Hardship At The 2019 AGC

The Association of Lawyers with Disabilities in Nigeria (ALDIN) has expressed its displeasure over an alleged exclusion and hardship at the Annual General Conference (AGC) of 2019 which ended last Thursday despite paying both their statutory fees and conference fees to the NBA.

In a statement signed by the President, General Secretary and Lagos Chapter of the Association, the Association alleges that despite their letters to the NBA, their interest were disregarded.

The Association lamented that For instance, at previous conferences, a limited number of indigent members of ALDIN were sponsored to the conference but this year, it was two days into the conference already, that the NBA, via WhatsApp message, contacted ALDIN, calling for nomination of ALDIN members who would be given registration fee waiver and “free lunch.” And because of the timing and circumstance, no ALDIN member could take advantage of the said offer.

It further stated that previous years, there were sign language interpreters at the conference; there was none this year. This year, lawyers with disabilities had difficulties accessing both the conference venue and the shuttle buses, due to lack of the necessary assistive services.

This made some of them to break down, others got their mobility aids damaged, and were unable to make it to the conference on subsequent days. It says their plight was in contravention of the operational disability legislation (the Lagos State Special People’s Law).

The statement reads:

ALDIN’S STATEMENT ON THE 2019 NBA CONFERENCE

Association of Lawyers with Disabilities in Nigeria (ALDIN) wishes to express her disappointment at the non-inclusion of lawyers with disabilities at this year’s NBA Annual General Conference. ALDIN members who paid both their statutory fees, and conference fees to the NBA, were subjected to untold hardship at the 2019 Annual General Conference of the NBA.

Despite the series of letters written by the ALDIN to the NBA, articulating the concerns of her (ALDIN) members with regards to the conference, the NBA failed to factor the peculiar interest of ALDIN members in this year’s conference. To say the least, this year’s conference is indeed a roll-back on the progress earlier made by the NBA in the area of disability inclusion.

For instance, at previous conferences, a limited number of indigent members of ALDIN would be sponsored to the conference, and such sponsorship would cover conference registration, transportation and accommodation. This year, it was two days into the conference already, that the NBA, via WhatsApp message, contacted ALDIN, calling for nomination of ALDIN members who would be given registration fee waiver and “free lunch.” And because of the timing and circumstance, no ALDIN member could take advantage of the said offer. At previous years, there were sign language interpreters at the conference; there was none this year.

This year, lawyers with disabilities had difficulties accessing both the conference venue and the shuttle buses, due to lack of the necessary assistive services. This made some of them to break down, others got their mobility aids damaged; and were unable to make it to the conference on subsequent days.

Furthermore, while the NBA Is now taking steps to constitute Young Lawyers’ Forum and Female Lawyers’ Forum, unfortunately, nothing is being said about creating any forum to cater for the peculiarities of Lawyers with Disabilities. At the Annual General Meeting, which held as part of the conference, an attempt to raise the issue of Lawyers with Disabilities was shut out by the NBA President, who was presiding over the meeting. That issue was never again made mention of again.

This foregoing development is worse, considering the fact that the said conference held in Lagos State, where there is operational disability legislation (the Lagos State Special People’s Law). The said law provides as follows:

Section 14. (1) The organizers of any public function shall provide competent attendants who shall attend to persons living with disability in attendance at the function.
(2) Any individual knowingly involved in the contravention of this Section shall be liable to a fine of N50,000 (Fifty Thousand Naira) or (6) six months imprisonment or both.
Section 20. (1) At parking lots, one out of twenty parking lot shall be properly marked and reserved for persons living with disability.

(3) Any person, organization or corporate body in control of a public parking lot who fails to make provision for the reserved space in this section shall be liable to a fine of N100,000.00 (One Thousand Naira) and for each day of default.

Section 21. (1) No person living with disability shall be discriminated against on the ground of his or her disability by any person or institution in any manner or circumstances whatsoever.

Section 30 (2) Government, Corporate organization and persons shall:

(a) provide information intended for the general public to persons living with disability in accessible formats and technologies appropriate to the different kinds of disabilities timeously and at no additional cost;

(b) accept and facilitate the use of sign languages, Braille, augmentative and alternative communication in all interactions.

Similarly, Section 1 the Discrimination against Persons with Disabiities (Prohibition) Act, 2019 provides as follows:

Our beloved NBA flouted all these laws without scruples.

It gives us more concern, that these happened under an NBA President who, during his campaign, passionately promised to alleviate the sufferings of lawyers with disabilities in the following words of his:

“Another … category of lawyers whose welfare I will work towards ameliorating, from a professional standpoint, is that of the aged and disabled lawyers. If I am elected as the NBA President, I will work towards achieving better welfare programmes for these categories of lawyers and generally for all lawyers…

…Persons living with disability and the aged have special needs which unfortunately are not generally catered for in our Nigerian environment.

Much as we have unimpeachable cause of action against the NBA in the circumstance, in keeping with our avowed and unalloyed loyalty to the NBA, we shall restrain ourselves from taking any legal action. Also, given our understanding that two wrongs do not make a right, we shall not relent in paying our practicing fees and branch dues to the NBA as and when due.

This statement has even become expedient in the light of the fact that we have already written so many letters to the NBA, expressing our peculiar concerns. However, not to even one of the said letters did we get a reply to. It is a possibility that, unlike this statement, none of those letters ever got delivered to the appropriate authority.

Finally, we travel to other countries of the world and see how the human rights of persons with disabilities are respected there. It would, therefore, not be right for us to return to Nigeria and do the very opposite, as though we are unaware of the international best practices. The NBA has both moral and professional responsibility to blaze a trail in promoting the human right of persons with disabilities. And if the NBA cannot uphold the human rights of her own members, who have disabilities, would she have the moral standing to hold herself out as defending the human rights of the larger society? Charity begins at home.

Daniel Onwe                                       Gaius Ogan Bolarinwa Salami
President General         Secretary Chairman, ALDIN, Lagos Chapter