The Centre for Infrastructural and Technological Advancement for the Blind in Lagos has condemned the recent distribution of assistive devices by the Lagos State Office for Disability Affairs (LASODA) to some selected civil servants with disabilities.

LASODA, had on Monday, March 16, distributed some assistive and technological tools to 50 physically challenged civil servants across various ministries to enhance their productivity and improve workplace efficiency.

In a statement on Thursday, CITAB described LASODA’s project as a “familiar parade of cameras and handshakes that looks good in headlines but leaves the daily exclusion of persons with disabilities firmly in place.”

Jolomi Fenemigho, executive chairman of CITAB, signed the statement.

The centre stated that while the presentation of laptops, wheelchairs, and prosthetic limbs to a small group of civil servants may be seen as supportive, it does not address the real barriers facing the disability community.

It decried systemic discrimination, inaccessible public infrastructure, and an escalating unemployment crisis that people with disabilities experience.

CITAB condemned what it described as a recurring culture of symbolic interventions, in which the government prefers ceremonial handovers to enforceable inclusion, warning that a laptop cannot open doors that policy keeps shut, and devices cannot deliver independence in a city designed to exclude.

“Equipping a few people who already have jobs is not inclusion; it is decoration. If the government is serious, let it show us the jobs, show us the access, and show us the budget lines that make support usable beyond the photo session,” the centre said.

It said LASODA’s main obligation should be to the affairs, rights, and welfare of every registered person with a disability in Lagos, adding that this responsibility must be prioritised over publicity and all other competing interests.

CITAB also accused the government of being unfavourable to people with disabilities in its recruitment of civil servants.

“The local government council claims it has recruited members of our community, yet no visually impaired person has come forward to validate these assertions. These purported recruits appear to exist only in statements, not in verifiable appointments.

“We urge LASODA to demand and publish proof of these employments, because our community remains sidelined despite participating in the official process,” the centre noted. 

CITAB further called on LASODA to immediately publish the list of PWDs recruited during the recent local governments’ recruitment in the state and provide verifiable evidence of their appointments. 

The centre charged the government to publish a transparent audit of PWDs representation across all ministries, departments, and agencies with a clear compliance plan to meet the five per cent employment quota under the Lagos State Special People’s Law, and to make a time-bound, measurable commitment to retrofit public buildings, services, and transport systems for full accessibility.

It further demanded that independent disability-led groups, including CITAB, be included in monitoring disability-related employment, accessibility, and assistive technology programmes. 

It stressed that the PWDs’ “Nothing About Us Without Us” slogan must be enforced in Lagos as a standard, and not performed as a slogan.

LASODA and the chief press secretary to the state governor, Gboyega Akosile, did not respond to Peoples Gazette’s requests for comments on the centre’s allegations.