The CCD supports the inclusion of people with disabilities in the implementation of the PIA

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The Center for Citizens with Disabilities (CCD) has said that the implementation of the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) will be incomplete without taking into account Persons with Disabilities (PWDs).

The Acting Director of the CCD, Godwin Unumeri, said this at an advocacy workshop on the inclusion of persons with disabilities in PIA care facilities in the Niger Delta region, organized by the centre, with support from the Ford Foundation, on Friday in Owerri.

Unumeri, represented by the center’s administrative and financial manager, Florence Austin, said the law was necessitated by the need to include oil-producing communities in the benefits resulting from oil exploration.

According to him, it would therefore be unfair to include interest groups, such as traditional rulers, women and youth groups, while excluding people with disabilities with obvious peculiarities.

According to him, sustainable development is only possible when it is inclusive, hence the need to give people with disabilities a sustainable voice through legitimate inclusion in PIA benefit structures.

“A development process that excludes people with disabilities is incomplete and ultimately unjust.
“The vision we must collectively pursue is one in which people with disabilities are not passive beneficiaries but active participants and decision-makers in the development of their communities.

“This exclusion is not just a development oversight; it is a violation of our fundamental rights enshrined in Nigeria’s legal and policy framework, including the Law on Discrimination against Persons with Disabilities and international commitments, under the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities,” Unumeri said.

He urged people with disabilities to remain open, curious, engage constructively with government and other relevant stakeholders, challenge assumptions and strive for actionable outcomes.

Additionally, CCD Program Manager Christiana Njoku advised people with disabilities to embrace self-advocacy to enable them to overcome perceived discrimination in areas such as access to jobs and public funding.

Njoku hoped the National Assembly would speed up work on amendments to the PIA to incorporate benefits for persons with disabilities.

Also, the President of the Joint National Association of Persons with Disabilities, Mr. Chidubem Ekwelem, thanked the CCD for championing the rights of persons with disabilities.
He also thanked the Imo Government for paying attention to their needs, urging persons with disabilities to pursue their goals with utmost civility.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that those present at the two-day workshop included representatives of various groups of persons with disabilities from various municipal areas of the state.