Ahead of the inauguration on the 29th of May, TAF Africa tasked the President-elect, Bola Tinubu, and other elected individuals to dedicate 10 percent of ministerial and Special Advisers, Special Advisers, appointments to persons with disabilities (PWDs) in the spirit of national unity and inclusion.
The CEO/Founder of TAF Africa, Amb. Jake Epelle, made this demand during a Stakeholders’ Strategic Roundtable on the Able to Serve Campaign, themed, “Disability Inclusion in the Appointment of Cabinet Members: A Call for Inclusive Governance”.
Amb. Epelle further stated that there is nothing wrong with the president-elect appointing PWDs into his cabinet because they have a major stake in the development of Nigeria. He emphasized that in the spirit of inclusivity, the appointments will add value and give a sense of belonging to PWDs, adding that they have a huge but untapped potential, skills, and perspectives needed to impact positively in the decision-making process and good governance, hence the agitation for appointments.
He further explained that the strategic roundtable was basically organized to create awareness and get the commitment of the various political parties to driving disability inclusion in the appointment of cabinet members within the incoming government.
According to him, “If you truly want to run a government of national unity, then that government should be inclusive of all irrespective of gender, disability status, religion, and do whatever that needs to be done so that everyone will sit on the table, which is the way forward.”
Dr. Chike Okogwu, Founder of, the Center for Ability, Rehabilitation, and Empowerment (CARE Nigeria) stressed that it is a matter of right for PWDs to demand political appointments.
According to him, “There is an Act prohibiting discrimination against persons with disabilities. It says at least five percent of persons with disabilities should be given employment. it is a five percent minimum, but we are saying we want 10 percent.
“Take me for example, I’m only physically impaired, I’m not disabled in any manner and there are lots of us like that. we are bringing capacity, competence, courage, and everything that makes us excel. You are giving us as a matter of right, but do not look at us only from the prism of disabilities, look beyond what we represent. A lot of us are well educated, a lot of us are intellectuals, we have what it takes to do what you want”, he added.
At the end of the roundtable, the different disability clusters present made their demands to the elected individuals from various political parties through a communique that was signed and issued.
A Journey Of Rights and Disability Inclusion
A Journey Of Rights and Disability Inclusion Since the end of the Second World War, the global community has been undergoing a period of profound societal change. Civil Rights movements have shaken the foundations of the global order, standing at the heart of social transformation and progressive change for the better part of the last two centuries.This story can be traced, in various ways, to pivotal moments across our historical past. No area of human civilisation has been immune to debates and movements about the rights of individuals and the responsibility of the state, or supreme power, to the citizens who are governed by it.Across age, class, sex, faith, sexuality, and disability, individuals have advocated and fought for the gradual reshaping of their societies into the world we live in today – one aspiring toward a concrete vision of individual liberty, equality before the law, incorruptible justice, and shared prosperity. Yet, the journey has not always been smooth. We may view the past in entirely barbaric terms, and in many ways, we would be right. Still, history shows us that resistance to oppression has always existed. For the simple yet radical idea of human equality, battles were fought, won and lost; wars were waged, and countless lives were sacrificed.As far back as 1100 BCE, records from ancient Egypt suggest the occurrence of organised workers’ strikes. In 287 BCE, in ancient Rome, the dictator (no relation to modern-day dictators, please) Quintus Hortensius, passed the Lex Hortensia, a law which theoretically secured political equality between the ruling Patrician class and the free Plebeian citizens by making all resolutions from the Plebeian Council binding on all Roman citizens. Centuries earlier, Persia, under the infamous Cyrus the Great, issued the Cyrus Cylinder, a declaration often regarded as one of the earliest endorsements of religious freedom. Progress, however, has rarely been swift. It was not until the 1960s – during the height of the U.S. Civil Rights Movement – that disability inclusion began to emerge as a distinct movement with its own pure identity, advocating for a community whose experiences cut across age, class, gender, and culture. Prior to this, early steps toward social protection existed in the US, most notably the Social Security Act of the 1930s, signed into law by President Franklin D. Roosevelt, the first U.S. president with a physical disability.Between the 60s and the 90s, Civil Rights took multiple leaps forward around the globe. Across Africa, people reclaimed self-governance after a century of colonial rule. These transformations were marked by deep struggle, highlighted by the deeply divisive racial conflict in apartheid and post-apartheid South Africa. In Nigeria and throughout the continent, citizens grappled with the profound responsibilities and challenges of independence, democratic self-determination, and governance.Alongside these transformations, other social changes gained momentum worldwide. As gender (sex) rights, religious liberty, and freedom of expression raced forward, the world made enormous progress in the integration of persons with disabilities (PWDs). By the late 90s, the US, Canada, India, and the UK had enacted laws prohibiting discrimination based on disability.The newly formed United Nations played a central role in shaping global disability advocacy with the 1975 UN Declaration on the Rights of Disabled Persons. This milestone set the stage for later international frameworks, most notably the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) in 2007, which emphasised not only fundamental rights like the right to accessibility and the right to life, but also focused on the socio-economic foundations that make political rights meaningful.Today, over 100 countries on Earth have enacted and implemented some form of legislation on disability inclusion. Still, the journey continues.Nationwide implementation of accessibility standards, increased participation of persons with disabilities in the workforce, politics, policymaking, and governance, inclusive education systems where children with disabilities and without disabilities learn together safely, and a societal culture that embraces rather than marginalises disability – these, and many others, are the markers of progress that remain ahead of us.On this journey toward true disability inclusion, we at TAF Africa, our donors and partners, and team, are committed to walking every step of the way.