Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Rt. Hon. Benjamin Kalu, has declared that the continued exclusion of persons with disabilities (PWDs) from Nigeria’s workforce amounts to “economic sabotage” and warned that the country cannot grow its economy while sidelining millions of capable citizens.
Speaking on Wednesday at a policy forum titled “Advancing Workplace Inclusion for Persons with Disabilities,” organised by the Shehu Musa Yar’Adua Foundation in partnership with the Australian High Commission, Irede Foundation, Christian Aid, Inclusive Friends Association, and Ceder Seed Foundation, Kalu lamented the poor implementation of the Discrimination Against Persons with Disabilities (Prohibition) Act 2018, seven years after it was signed into law.
“We are gathered here today, seven years after that Act was signed, because the reality in our workplaces does not yet match the promise of our laws,” he said.
“The 10th House of Representatives views the economic exclusion of persons with disabilities not just as a human rights violation, but as economic sabotage. We cannot realistically aim to grow Nigeria’s GDP or build a resilient economy while systematically locking out millions of capable, driven, and valuable citizens from the workforce.”
Kalu announced that the era of mere advocacy is over, saying the House has now moved to aggressive oversight to enforce compliance.
“My stance, and the stance of the House leadership, remains consistent: the five percent employment quota mandated for public institutions is a national imperative. It is a statutory obligation. We are moving from the era of advocacy to the era of oversight,” he stressed.
He directed the House Committee on Disability Matters, chaired by Hon. Bashiru Dawodu, to immediately begin monitoring recruitment processes in all ministries, departments, and agencies (MDAs) to ensure PWDs are not excluded.
Director-General of the Shehu Musa Yar’Adua Foundation, Amara Nwakpa, said the forum was convened to push for deliberate inclusion of PWDs across public, private, and non-governmental sectors.
“The message is very simple: we should make more room as organisations. They are not the ones who need to learn; it is we as organisations in Nigeria that need to learn how to be inclusive – and to be inclusive with purpose,” Nwakpa said.
She added that Nigeria does not need new legislation, but full implementation of the existing 2018 Act – both in letter and in spirit – including encouraging private sector and civil society organisations to voluntarily adopt the five percent inclusion benchmark.
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