The Joint National Association of Persons with Disabilities, known as JONAPWD, is pushing for something that should never have been optional: flood warning systems that actually reach everyone, including the 25 million or so Nigerians living with disabilities.
The group is calling on authorities to make early warning alerts available in formats that people with visual, hearing, and cognitive impairments can access and act on. Right now, most flood alerts rely on channels that leave a significant portion of the population without the information they need to get to safety in time.
JONAPWD is also asking for persons with disabilities to have a real seat at the table when climate adaptation plans are being drawn up, not as an afterthought but from the start. Their argument is straightforward: communities cannot be described as resilient if the most vulnerable members are being planned around rather than planned with.
Nigeria has seen some of its most destructive flooding in recent years, and the human cost consistently falls hardest on those with the fewest resources to prepare or evacuate. For disability advocates, that pattern is not inevitable. It is a planning choice, and it can be changed.
Originally published by BusinessDay.