In January 2021, the International Foundation for Electoral Systems (IFES) interviewed Hauwa Ojeifo, a mental health professional and Executive Director of She Writes Woman. IFES interviewed Hauwa to learn more about the work that She Writes Woman does to empower Nigerians with psychosocial disabilities and mental health conditions to participate in political life. Hauwa also highlights the barriers that Nigerians face when participating in political life and elections. The interview is below.
The political climate in Nigeria is one that is filled with discrimination and prejudice, and as such, persons with psychosocial disabilities are not exempted. In a country that views mental health conditions as a form of ‘madness’ and ‘lunacy’, it does not come as a surprise that its domestic laws hinder persons with psychosocial disabilities from participating in politics. One of such laws is the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (1999, last amended 2011). Section 66, subsection 1 of the constitution states:
No person shall be qualified for election to the Senate or the House of Representatives if…
(b) under any law in force in any part of Nigeria, he is adjudged to be a lunatic or otherwise declared to be of unsound mind…
Section 107 of the constitution states:
(1) No person shall be qualified for election to the House of Assembly if…
(b) under any law in force in any part of Nigeria, he is adjudged to be a lunatic or otherwise declared to be of unsound mind…
Section 137 states:
(1) A person shall not be qualified for election to the office of President if…
(c) under the law in any part of Nigeria, he is adjudged to be a lunatic or otherwise declared to be of unsound mind…
The Electoral Act (2010) is another legislation that discriminates and hinders persons with psychosocial disabilities from participating in politics in Nigeria. Section 107 states:
(1) A person shall not be qualified to contest an Area Council election under this Act if...
(b) he is adjudged to be a lunatic or otherwise declared to be of unsound mind under any law in force in any part of Nigeria…
With all these legislations, what is constant is the use of the word ‘lunatic’ [a slur]. This is a clear indication of how psychosocial disabilities are viewed in Nigeria and consequently reflects on the discriminatory treatment of persons with psychosocial disabilities in Nigeria. This is the biggest barrier that Nigerians with psychosocial disabilities face when participating in political life and elections.
At She Writes Woman, our mission is to give mental health a voice in Nigeria, and one of the ways we do this is by empowering persons with lived experience to tell their own stories, co-create their own solutions and advocate for their own rights. She Writes Woman has an initiative where training workshops are carried out for persons with psychosocial disabilities on their rights, advocacy, and lobbying strategies to push for necessary modification and enactment of right-based mental health legislation.
It is important that when we are addressing mental health, we are not just addressing it in its silo and that we are also leveraging on the fact that there is a broader disability rights community, and it is important for us to ensure that they are included in there. So, at She Writes Woman, we also have an initiative where we meet with disabled persons’ organization (DPOs), and the whole idea is to talk about the rights of persons with disabilities, in a view to building a more diverse movement. This is because when we really think about it, there are people with physical disabilities who also have psychosocial disabilities, but because they identify more with their physical disabilities, they haven’t found an entry point into having that broad community. This is the reason we need to think about a more diverse movement.
There are a number of changes that are necessary for increasing access to elections and politics for Nigerians with psychosocial disabilities. Firstly, a disability law that requires local and regional governments to promote the political participation of people with disabilities, including creating regional and municipal agencies designated to mainstream disability issues, and promoting and facilitating the participation of people with disabilities in the conduct of public affairs.
The second thing that I would recommend is the slogan of the UNCRPD [United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities], “Nothing About Us Without Us”, which is a global phenomenon that says that when a policy affects a particular group of people, let them be consulted robustly, let them lead and let them be included, whether in the development, research or implementation of that particular policy. In relation to political life and elections, the government should guarantee the right to vote by providing for it under chapter IV of the constitution, which contains the fundamental rights of the citizens of Nigeria.
With no provisions for the right to vote under Chapter IV of the constitution, there exists no form of legal redress for citizens with psychosocial disabilities. Nigeria’s political and social stakeholders must work together more concertedly to enable and actualize enhanced voting right in a revised constitution.
The government, together with DPOs, needs to develop and implement a system of supported decision-making. More broadly, relevant ministries and government agencies should systematically engage disabled persons’ organizations and persons with disabilities in decision-making and legal reform processes.
Lawmakers should amend the Mental Health Law to reflect the international legal standard that all people with disabilities should have equal legal capacity as other citizens, in order to meet its obligations under the UNCRPD, which Nigeria ratified in 2010, and is also a state party to.
The Nigerian government also needs to ensure that voting infrastructure and processes are accessible for people with diverse disabilities and that all those involved in running and managing elections have adequate training to facilitate their right to political participation on an equal basis as others. Failure to do so effectively denies people with disabilities their rights and citizenship.
The terminology used in describing persons with psychosocial disabilities also needs to be changed. The world has moved away from a lot of things regarding mental health, and it has evolved over the years from just a biomedical issue to a social issue. So, words like ‘mental illness’, ‘impairment’, ‘incapacitated’, ‘disorder’ is no longer in use. Using these words to describe persons with psychosocial disabilities further perpetuates stigma to a certain group of people. So, the language used in describing persons with psychosocial disabilities in the various legislations is very crucial, as it could prove very instrumental in decelerating stigma and ensuring that the political rights of persons with psychosocial disabilities are respected.
My advice for people with psychosocial disabilities in Nigeria who want to take part in elections as voters or candidates would be to, first of all, come together as a group and become advocates for their own rights, i.e. right to be heard, right to vote and be voted for. By using the premise of “Nothing About Us Without Us”, persons with psychosocial disabilities can advocate for their rights on the basis of capacity. When we look at mental health as a disability, as against it being an illness or a sickness, we realize that it is important that we begin to change how we look at mental health conditions from a place of sickness to a place where it is understood that the environment has not adjusted enough to fit the needs of the person.
So, people with psychosocial disabilities in Nigeria should push for supported decision making in their advocacy strategy. So, instead of stripping us away from our legal capacity, supported decision making should be included at every given point in time, this way, we can ensure that people with disabilities are able to fully enjoy their rights to political participation without discrimination.