Ijeoma Blessing Fynecontry is a lawyer, an inclusion advocate, a legal resource person for the Down Syndrome Foundation Nigeria (DSFN), and a volunteer for the Evolve CAMP Community. In this interview by Kingsley Alumona, she speaks about her work and the issues bordering on the inclusion of persons with intellectual disabilities.
What does being a lawyer, with a tint of inclusion advocacy, mean to you?
It simply means that I am that lawyer who has seen the gap in policy and legal regimes as it concerns persons with disability, particularly intellectual disability. Thus, I have taken it upon myself to call the attention of the necessary stakeholders and push for a change.
Let us go a bit memory lane. You said that five days after you were called to the Bar, you landed your first court case. Tell us about it.
I said that I started my practice precisely five days after my call to the Bar in 2007 as a corps member in the law firm of K. Magaji & Associates, one of the foremost leading law firms in Bauchi City wherein my flare for courtroom advocacy was horned. If I may say, it has been an interesting journey since then, and I have not done badly in terms of successful courtroom outcomes.
Being a lawyer has taught me patience, thoroughness, multitasking in crazy schedules, and perseverance, among other virtues.
You said you were passionate about inclusion advocacy because you have a child with an intellectual disability. Could you tell us about your special child and how he or she is faring with the condition?
Yes, my second daughter was born with Down Syndrome in 2016. May I also mention that advocating for the vulnerable in society has always been something I do even right from my NYSC service year in Bauchi State. The free legal aid project I and my team did as part of our Community Development Service (CDS) earned me an award for my contribution at the end of my service year.
So, fast forward to 2016, I had my beautiful daughter born with Down Syndrome. The first shock I had was discovering the absolute lack of awareness and specialised support by most people including our healthcare personnel and institutions. It was so bad that a young doctor attending to me actually told me that it was my fault that my daughter had Down Syndrome. Imagine the mental breakdown that gave me. I was depressed for days, cried a river, and suicidal thoughts were not far from my mind.
Anyway, I knew I had to do something to at least know the depth of the challenges my daughter and I may be facing. I had to start looking for help for us. I quickly made Google my friend. Ninety percent of the necessary supportive information we will need to navigate and make the best of the situation was sourced by me via Google-surfing the net. This is contrary to what is obtainable in advanced climes where there is availability of all kinds of support for both the child and parents right from the labour room. Support in terms of medicare, counselling, education/information about what Down Syndrome is all about, and social and community support until I found Down Syndrome Foundation Nigeria.
My daughter is faring well. It is a continuous process and a lifetime journey. I tell people that having her has helped to shape me into an improved better human, recognising the oneness of humanity, disability or otherwise. She is one of my many blessings.
Your passion for inclusion advocacy motivated you to volunteer for the Down Syndrome Foundation Nigeria (DSFN). Tell us about your work with the foundation and the impact the foundation is making in society.
Like I mentioned earlier, the determination to get help for my daughter led me to discover the Down Syndrome Foundation Nigeria, an organisation that is running a fully equipped resource facility to cater for, support and help persons with Down Syndrome (and their families) to attain their highest potential and bridge the gap between them and their peers in society.
When I joined the foundation as a volunteer, I noticed that it is doing a fantastic job in terms of all manner of support which includes medical, education, etc. by its sole efforts. I mean, the foundation was practically operating with zero structured support (policy and legal wise) which ordinarily should not be in a saner society. With my legal background, I knew my job was cut out for me. Nigeria is basically operating the charity model of empowerment regarding the empowerment of persons with disability generally. This is against the social/community responsibility model which is what it ought to be.
I knew my job was cut out, which is to lead a strong advocacy campaign towards a push for legal and policy changes that will ensure that rights and benefits relating to and concerning persons with disability, particularly intellectual disability, accrue to them as rights, as citizens of Nigeria who are entitled to basic fundamental and human rights and not as a charity case.
So far, the DSFN has been contributing its quota which includes submitting proposals for disability law reforms in Lagos State, contributing and forming strategic working relations with the African Disability Network, Inclusion International, Down Syndrome International, and other stakeholders. It is a work in progress and the foundation is determined to make an indelible impact.
In December 2020, you wrote an article arguing that years after the promulgation of the Discrimination Against Persons Living with Disability (Prohibition) Act 2019, the disability community in Nigeria is yet to feel its impact. 2024 is about to end. Do you still feel that way?
Yes, absolutely. My point is that the Act generally seems not to really capture the needs of persons who fall within the intellectual disability cluster. Yes, the Act is a good start — the first of its kind.
However, there is need for improvement to capture all persons it is meant for. Aside that, the Act, to date, still suffers lack of adequate and effective implementation. Our government will have to do more and better. Five years down the line, I expected that effective implementation should have been hundred percent achieved. But sadly it is not so.
This year, in March, on the occasion of the 2024 World Down Syndrome Day, you wrote an opinion piece stating that people with intellectual disabilities in Nigeria tend to be pitied instead of supported to make an impact in society. What kind of support do you think these special individuals need and whose responsibility is it to prove the support?
I will continue to shout it. Persons with intellectual disability do not need pity, what they need is strategic support like specialised educational equity, health equity; economic, social, community, and even religious support to excel in life. If given the proper and needed opportunity/support, they can actually contribute meaningfully in society.
You have always advocated for an inclusive education system with special care and curricula for intellectually disabled students. How possible do you think this could be, especially in public schools where even the basic needs of normal students are not usually met, not to mention those of special students? Even in most private schools, it would cost much to attend properly to special students, which many parents of these special students could not afford. So, how do you think this could be handled?
It is actually students with intellectual disability, not disabled students, please. So, like we have been saying, promoting inclusion within our educational system is very possible if only the government and all stakeholders will stand up to their responsibilities to the citizens, which includes persons with intellectual disability. All over the world, inclusive education is the way to go.
In Nigeria currently, to the best of my knowledge, only the Lagos State government has attempted to run the inclusive education model in its public schools wherein, students with intellectual disabilities and other disabilities are put in the same learning environment with those without disability, though in their special classrooms. That is commendable, but the standard needs to be improved. I commend the efforts of the Lagos State government, as most private learning facilities for persons with intellectual disability are too expensive for an average middle-class parents to afford.
People and society seem to lay more emphasis on the education and legal rights of disabled people, especially disabled children, neglecting other nuances of their lives, like fostering meaningful relationships, value systems, spirituality, self-motivation, and creativity — things they could easily control and relate with. Do you think it is time inclusion advocates looked into these other aspects to better the lives and future of disabled people?
Absolutely. The approach, like I said, to issues affecting persons with disability — physical or intellectual — should be holistic just like it is expected for any other person. They are humans just like every one of us.
If you were the president of Nigeria, what existing laws or policies would you implement to ensure that people living with disabilities would feel included and safe?
I think the major challenge we have is not that of lack of laws per se. It is more of a lack of political will to implement the laws.
If I am to become the president of Nigeria, I would ensure that my government is the one that would push for effective and efficient implementation while also working for the formulation of more resourceful and empowering social policies and legal regimes.
What kind of Nigeria do you envision for your special child to grow, work, and have a family in?
A Nigeria that is sensitive and responsive to the plight and needs of persons with any kind of disabilities.
You were one of the volunteers at the Evolve Conference held recently in Lagos. What can you say about the conference and the impact it had on you?
It was a fantastic meeting of a community of like minds, with an evolved mindset. The aim is to raise an army of young Nigerians with an evolved mindset, making positive impacts in their various chosen fields of endeavour. Since I joined the Evolve community, my life purpose is more clearly defined, and my zeal elevated. I am all fired up to make an impact.
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