Yearly, September 5 has been set aside to highlight the most current issues of concern for spinal cord injured (SCI) individuals by the International Spinal Cord Society, ISCoS.
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For the 2023 occasion with the theme, Access to SCI Services – A lifeless complicated’, the Spinal Cord Injuries Association of Nigeria, SCIAN, an organisation established in 1984 to support SCI Nigerians has brought the attention of members of the public to the challenges faced by Nigerians with spinal cord injury.

SCIAN who urged the three tiers of government, MDAs and corporate organisations to respect the Discrimination Against Persons With Disability (Prohibition) Act 2018, and ensure that policies, appointments and facilities reflect the provisions of the Act, said disability is ubiquitous and as such it should be the concern of everyone. “Anything can make anyone disabled, and anyone can be disabled at any point in time. Hence, Disability is and should be everyone’s Business.

“The difference between what spinal cord injured persons in the developed and some developing countries can do and what we can do here in Nigeria is determined by access to post-injury rehabilitation facilities which they have, but which remained a mirage in Nigeria.”

The association revealed that many decades after SCIAN was allocated a piece of land to build a Rehabilitation Centre in Lagos, they have been unable to put up the building or procure the necessary equipment.

“The lack of access to rehabilitation has seriously affected our level of functionality, thus making life quite difficult and complicated for us. Many spinal cord injured persons rot away at home after leaving the hospital, as there is no public and affordable rehabilitation centre to address their physical and mental health challenges. We recall, with a deep sense of appreciation, that as the then Governor of Lagos State, Bola Ahmed Tinubu now the President gave us a fixed portion of his monthly salary and also assisted SCIAN in some landscaping and perimeter fencing.

Now we are also calling on him as the President of Nigeria to graciously consider the construction of our Rehab complex as a major intervention in the health sector. This will undoubtedly empower SCI persons to live independent and productive life and thus contribute to the socioeconomic development of the country.”

They continued: “We also call on corporate entities and philanthropists to come to our aid so that Nigerians who suffer injuries to their spinal cord can be as functional and productive as our counterparts in other countries.”
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