One of the worst places in the world to have a disability is Nigeria. With an estimated 30 million Nigerians said to have one disability or another; it is sad to know that Nigeria’s fast urbanizing cities do not really care so much for this population.
Although Nigeria has a “Discrimination Against Persons with Disabilities (Prohibition) Act” enacted in 2018 to prohibit discrimination against individuals with disabilities and ensure their full integration into society. Only little traction has been made.
On June 19th, HipCity Innovation Centre through its Inclusive Cities Project – Abuja: A city for all; engaged several communities of Persons with Disabilities (PWD) in Bwari Area Council to understand their enjoyment and/or challenges of integration into the Abuja City.
Through active mapping critical sectors of the city; it became clear that these class of Nigerians are Unseen/Unheard by city planners and city administration as their integration into the city architecture is often neglected, exposing them to varying degree of abuse, exploitation, harassment and discrimination.
During the Urban Thinkers Focus Group Discussion; PWDs took time to design what an inclusive City should look like, highlighting areas of grave concerns such as the absence of dedicated tracks for cycling on our roads, the non-consideration of PWDs in Pedestrian Bridge construction (even where ramps are constructed, there are not built to specification), lack of disability-friendly housing typologies in the cities, stigmatization and discrimination in the areas of housing, transport and access to public spaces such as recreational parks, hospitals, Banks, Religious centres, Schools etc.
We cannot build a city for only the abled bodied members of the society, we must always consider the vulnerable groups amongst us by ensuring their active participation in planning and implementation of city infrastructure.
This activity would feed into our ongoing policy brief development, an advocacy document to guide city planners, administrators on building an inclusive city in Abuja.
HipCity Innovation Centre… the eyes through which you view the City.
You can collaborate and support the work we do by emailing us on info.hipcityhub@gmail.com or call us on +2347034520685
