The Nigerian Bar Association Lawyers with Disabilities Forum (NBA-LWDF) has said disability inclusion must move decisively from charity-based gestures to a rights-based framework anchored in law, accountability and institutional responsibility.
The call formed the centrepiece of resolutions reached at the forum’s annual conference held in Asaba, Delta State.
In a communiqué adopted at the close of the conference and signed by the Chairman, Ms. Patience Etumudon, participants said the conference was convened to advance multidimensional inclusion of lawyers with disabilities, strengthen enforcement of existing legal frameworks, and reposition persons with disabilities as professionals and leaders contributing meaningfully to national development.
While calling for comprehensive legal, institutional and infrastructural reforms to guarantee full inclusion of lawyers with disabilities within Nigeria’s justice system and broader society, the forum identified persistent structural and societal barriers undermining access to justice and professional advancement for lawyers with disabilities which they listed as inaccessible courtrooms, police stations and public buildings.
Other barriers included weak implementation of disability laws; inadequate data for planning; high unemployment rates among lawyers with disabilities; exclusion from NBA conferences and activities; and deep-seated stigma and discrimination.
The forum also highlighted the concealment of disability at birth, poor registration systems, limited political will, insufficient funding, cultural barriers, and weak institutional capacity across the justice delivery chain.
