Disability commission appointments: ActionAid praises FG

Etim Effiong

An humanitarian organisation, ActionAid Nigeria (AAN), has praised the Federal Government for the appointment of executive members of National Commission for Persons with Disabilities (PWDs).

The Country Director of the AAN, Mr Ene Obi, appealed to state governments to emulate the FG by domesticating the disability commission.

Speaking on Tuesday, Obi urged that the efforts should translate to
He said, “The need for a disability commission is long overdue.
“We applaud the Federal Government for making efforts to bring an end to years of exclusion of this valuable population through the establishment of a commission.”
“We earnestly hope that the commission, through its mandate, will ensure that the education, healthcare and other social and economic rights of the people with disabilities contained in the 1999 Constitution and the Law on Rights of Persons with Disabilities will be upheld.

“Also worthy of emphasis is the need to ensure that at least five per cent of all public appointments go to people with disabilities as backed up by the law supporting the establishment of the commission.
“Only PWDs can proffer solutions to challenges they face and we call governments at all levels to honor this provision of the law.”
According to him, the freedom of PWDs to move safely around urban and rural areas in Nigeria had been greatly constrained by plans and designs of transport systems that were insensitive to their needs and negative social norms that tolerated violence toward certain disabilities.

She added that the key areas that require immediate attention include transformation of transport system to ensure adequate buses and stops, street lighting, recruitment of female transport staff, disability friendly public toilets and infrastructure that cater to their mobility and protection.

“Governments should ensure that PWDs participate equally and meaningfully in all processes around designing, legislating and budgeting for city planning and public transport,” she noted.