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PMB signs Disability Bill into law.

DPOs, NGOs, CSOs, the disabled community, and all civil-minded Nigerians celebrate a victory won perseverance and prayers as President Mohammed Buhari signs the Disability Bill into law on 23rd January 2019.

Here are the highlights of the Bill (culled from premiumtimesng.com):

  1. The Act prohibits all forms of discrimination against persons with disability. If an individual is found violating this law, he/she will pay a fine of N100,000 or a term of six months imprisonment. The law imposes a fine of one million Naira on corporate bodies.
  2. Discrimination against such persons is prohibited in public transportation facilities and service providers are to make provision for the physically, visually and hearing impaired and all persons howsoever challenged. This applies to seaports, railways and airport facilities.
  3. The rights and privileges of persons with a disability include education, health care, priority in accommodation and emergencies.
  4. All public organizations are to reserve at least five percent of employment opportunities for these persons.
  5. The Act gives citizens with disabilities the right to file a lawsuit for damage against any defaulter.
  6. It provides for a five-year transitional period within which public buildings, structures or automobile are to be modified to be accessible to and usable by persons with disabilities, including those on wheelchairs.
  7. Before a public structure is constructed, its plans shall be inspected by relevant authorities to ensure that the plan conforms with the building code.
  8. A government or government agency, body or individual responsible for the approval of building plans shall not approve the plan of a public building if the plan does not make provision for accessibility facilities in line with the building code.
  9. An officer who approves or directs the approval of a building plan that contravenes the building code commits an offense and is liable on conviction to a fine of at least N1,000,000 or a term of imprisonment of two years or both.
  10. In Section 31 of the Act, the National Commission for Persons with Disabilities will be established and an Executive Secretary will be appointed as the head of the commission.

 

Let us all play out part to ensure that the law is propagated and becomes fully operational across all fields of endeavors in Nigeria.

A press realease from nationalwire.com.ng, “Nigerian Women Must Demand Their Political Power, Rights – Abiola Costello”

 

Founder of Kudirat Initiatives For Democracy (KIND), Hafsat Abiola-Costello has challenged Nigerian women to demand their political power and rights.

Abiola-Costello, daughter of the presumed winner of the June 12, 1993, presidential election, the late Chief M.K.O. Abiola whose wife, Alhaja Kudirat Abiola was also assassinated in Lagos, gave the charge recently at an event organized by her organization in Lagos.

The event themed Consultative Forum on Women Political Participation in Lagos State featured several facilitators and participants from Lagos and beyond.

The activist said Nigerian women are among the strongest in the world and the most relegated on earth. “Women are not really valued in our society, we are almost like slaves. This situation is not going to change until we demand the power and the right that are ours,” she said.

READ MORE  from nationalwire.com.ng

 

FORTHCOMING EVENTS: CONSULTATIVE FORUM ON WOMEN POLITICAL PARTICIPATION IN FCT, ABUJA

VOICE PROJECT

 

CONSULTATIVE FORUM ON WOMEN POLITICAL PARTICIPATION IN FCT, ABUJA

The Kudirat Initiative for Democracy (KIND) is organizing a consultative forum to advance the course of women political participation in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT). The forum is being organized under the Voice Influencing Project of KIND to seek ways of influencing relevant organizations to enable them to strengthen the capacity of women political aspirants and to foster women’s participation in politics in the FCT. Target participants at the forum include representatives of political parties, INEC, female political aspirants from the wards to the LGAs in the FCT, Democracy NGOs, female politicians and political office holders and relevant MDAs. The strategies to be articulated in this forum and subsequent engagements with the stakeholders are expected to lead to an increase in the number of women taking part in active politics and better advocacy by Democracy NGOs for women’s participation in politics.

The forum is scheduled as follows.

Date: Wednesday, January 10, 2018

Venue: Fountain Hall, Rockview Royale Hotel, Abuja

Time: 10 am prompt

 

THEME – EMPOWERING WOMEN FOR BETTER POLITICAL PARTICIPATION IN FCT, ABUJA

 

LEAD SPEAKER – Professor A. T. Simbine, National Commissioner, Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Abuja

LCCI WOMEN GROUP WORKSHOP

On Tuesday 28th November 2017, the Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Women Group) organised a workshop themed “Women Empowerment and National Development: The Nexus of Policies, Laws and Practice”. @ the Henry Fajemirokun Hall, Commerce House Victoria Island, Lagos.

See Below Pictures of the Event:

 

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Hafsat Abiola-Costello receives an award at the event for her outstanding performance in supporting women political participation in Nigeria.

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VITAL VOICES second annual Incredible Women Gala in association with Estée Lauder.

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#PORTERIncredibleWomen

Brie Larson and Kate Bosworth joined PORTER’s Editor-in-Chief, Lucy Yeomans and Universal Pictures Chairman and Vital Voices board memberDonna Langley as they co-hosted the second annual Incredible Women Gala in association with Estée Lauder. The evening benefitted Vital Voices, highlighting network activist, Hafsat Abiola.

 

HAFSAT ABIOLA-COSTELLO

“No one questions when women and girls accept the lot that we’ve been given. Yet, we are questioned when we seek to change the way things are. I was 19 when my mother was killed for fighting for change in Nigeria. So it was at 19 that I decided to do more than what my society expected.”

 

Hafsat Abiola-Costello believes the challenges facing Nigeria offer a unique opportunity for women’s leadership to emerge. Through her nonprofit – the Kudirat Initiative for Democracy (KIND) – she’s developing a rising generation of women leaders. Her life’s work is a tribute to her parents, who were assassinated for their pro-democracy activism.

As a cabinet member of the Ogun State government, she works to keep communities safe and advance women’s equal rights. Long before Boko Haram made headlines, Hafsat took dangerous trips to areas targeted by the extremist group. She organized coalitions of women to demand action against the group and continues to advocate for justice.

Read more