Foundation urges FG to protect rights of albinos
Kasara Chukwuma, Lagos
To effectively check the stigmatization and discrimination against persons living with albinism in Nigeria, the Onome Akinlolu Majaro Foundation has called on the federal government to formulate policies and laws that will promote and protect their rights.
Making the call in Lagos during an interactive session with newsmen on the just-concluded training workshop on albinism advocacy and human rights held in Senegal, the OAM Foundation’s Director of Logistics, Ugochukwu Orji, said if there were specific laws in place that address the issues of violation of rights of persons living with albinism, such laws would compel the society to treat them with respect.
Orji said the workshop which was organised by the Open Society Initiative for West Africa with 35 participants from West and Central Africa in attendance, vehemently condemned stigmatization and discrimination against persons living with albinism while urging leaders of African countries where rights of albinos are still been violated to obey international convention on human rights.
The rights of children, including those living with albinism are covered under the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child which has been signed and ratified across Africa.
Additionally, the 1999 African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child was created to provide additional rights to protect and outlines the rights that African countries must ensure for their child population.
Orji appealed to the federal government to obey these international laws by domesticating them as well as ensuring their full implementation in order to guarantee the rights of persons living with albinism in the country.
He also urged the incoming 9th National Assembly to revisit the Albinism Bill that the 8th assembly failed to pass into law, stressing that only a legislative action could decisively deal with cases of abuse against persons living with albinism as well as their perpetrators.
“We at OAM Foundation are against discrimination and stigmatisation against persons living with albinism and we are appealing to the government to put an end to it.
People living with albinism must be treated with respect. The foundation is making efforts in addressing myths and misconceptions around albinism through awareness creation,” he said.
Giving insight into the workshop, Orji said, basically, the workshop exposed albinism advocacy organisations on the different ways and methods to use in pursuing and addressing human rights issues and abuses that are peculiar to persons living with albinism.
Commenting on the need for government to provide protection and social welfare schemes targeted at persons living with albinism, Co-founder of OAM Foundation, Mrs. Onome Majaro, urged the government to subsidise treatment for them in the area of skin and eye care.
She appealed to those living with albinism in Nigeria to stand strong in the midst of the misconceptions about their skin colour and be patient with people around them.
