The Centre for Infrastructural and Technological Advancement for the Blind (CITAB) has called on the Lagos Metropolitan Area Transport Authority (LAMATA) and the Agence Française de Développement (AFD) to immediately halt all final contract approvals for the Maryland Interchange project until a verifiable Universal Design Audit is carried out and incorporated.
This was stated in a press release issued in Lagos today and signed by CITAB’s Executive Chairman, Jolomi George Fenemigho, who expressed deep concern that the rights and needs of blind and visually impaired residents are once again being pushed to the margins in a major public infrastructure project.
According to Fenemigho, “The laws governing accessibility in Nigeria are unmistakably clear. Both the Discrimination Against Persons with Disabilities (Prohibition) Act, 2018 and the Lagos State Special People’s Law, 2011, require public roads and facilities to be accessible to all. It is illegal and unjust to approve public works that lack standardized tactile paving, audible pedestrian signals, and universal design features for persons with disabilities. Yet, year after year, we see large-scale projects that simply ignore these requirements.”
CITAB noted that the Maryland Interchange, now moving forward with international financing, risks repeating the injustices of past road developments in Lagos, where accessibility is treated as an afterthought rather than a legal and moral obligation.
Fenemigho stressed:
“We refuse to be invisible users of a multi-million-dollar facility. Nigerian law says accessible features are mandatory, not negotiable. Any contract for public infrastructure, without these features clearly included, is not only a betrayal of disabled Lagosians but a breach of the law. International partners such as AFD must not finance discrimination, LAMATA needs to prove, not just promise, that this project will be inclusive from the ground up.”
CITAB demands that the government and its contractors immediately implement the following measures in the Maryland Interchange project:
Permanent installation of standardized tactile paving along all sidewalks, bus stops, pedestrian crossings, and approach roads
Audible pedestrian signals at all crossing points
A universal design approach, making all facilities usable by every Lagosian, regardless of ability
Both Section 4 of the Discrimination Against Persons with Disabilities (Prohibition) Act and Sections 24 and 25 of the Lagos State Special People’s Law spell out these obligations and mandate compliance. CITAB emphasises that ignoring these laws is not just technical non-compliance, but a denial of dignity, safety, and independence for thousands of citizens.
Fenemigho added, “We do not want charity or special treatment, only what the law already promises: a city where everyone can move freely, safely, and with dignity. If government and its partners fail to meet these legal duties, then any contract signed is not just unenforceable, it is morally bankrupt.”
CITAB urges all disability rights advocates, civil society groups, and the general public to join in demanding that no further funding or construction proceed until genuine accessibility is both verified and guaranteed. It is time for Lagos to become a model of inclusion and to finally practice what its own laws and international commitments require.
