CONSTRAINTS TO THE RIGHTS AND PROTECTION OF PERSONS WITH DISABILITIES IN NIGERIA

Abstract

Persons with disabilities (PWDs) have been known to suffer various attitudinal and environmental barriers which hinder them from fully participating in their communities on equal terms with others. To address this predicament, Nigeria signed, ratified, and domesticated a number of global and regional instruments on disability rights, including the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) and its Optional Protocol. The essence of these instruments recognised by Nigeria are restatements of the centrality, inseparability, and correlation of all human rights and the necessity for PWDs to be assured of their full protection and enjoyment of fundamental liberties on an equal basis with others without prejudices. Unfortunately, discrimination and marginalisation against PWDs in Nigeria still persist. The crux of this article is to identify the constraints faced by PWDs in the pursuit of their guaranteed rights in Nigeria. This issue is vital because it is not enough for the Nigerian government to put in place normative framework endorsing the rights and protection of PWDs; such laws must indeed be implemented. The article adopted the normative legal research and analytical methods by examining various legal instruments on the protection of the rights of PWDs in Nigeria. The findings revealed that the inability of PWDs to access physical structures, social, economic, academic, and healthcare facilities are some of the constraints faced by PWDs. It is recommended, inter alia, that all laws and governmental policies must align with the endorsement of the rights and protection of PWDs and violators should be sanctioned appropriately.