The Executive Secretary, National Commission for Persons with Disabilities,James Lalu is seeking for more robust partnership with the European Union aimed at promoting the inclusion of Persons With disabilities in accessing quality health care, guaranteed standard education amongst other benefits.
A signed statement by the Head Media and Publicity NCPWD, Mbanefo JohnMichaels indicates that Lalu made the assertion during his recent visit to the European Union Delegation to Nigeria and ECOWAS in Abuja.
The ES while appreciating the EU for their support over the years,said the Commission in its second year of existence has recorded some achievements through advocacy for the employment of persons with disabilities.
“This was in the area of monitoring for compliance to the 5% engagement in various MDAs as provided by the 2018 Disability law” he said. Lalu added that the Disability community has a population of about 35 million mentally able persons who can contribute significantly to the growth and development of the society.
Noting that the production of the Sign language dictionary which contains about 3 thousand words recorded a tremendous success,the ES disclosed that the dictionary will be upgraded to an edition that will contain about 6 thousand words in order to serve as a unifying tool for a multi- lingual society like Nigeria.
“Another milestone recorded by NCPWD is the development of minimum accessibility standards which mandates every public building to comply with the National disability code in order to guarantee ease of access by PWDs using public infrastructure” he added In order to protect the rights of PWDs, Lalu informed the EU delegation of the quick response unit set up in the Commission to respond and track the location of complainants who have been abused or discriminated against and needs justice.
“The Commission is equally in collaboration with the legal Aid Council where there is an opportunity to get probono lawyers to handle prosecution, this is also in tandem with the recent collaboration with office of the Attorney- General of the Federation to give fundamental cover to the rights of PWDs” he stated.
According to the ES, the Commission had met with the National Commission for Colleges of Education to get the consent of the regulatory body to inculcate the basic knowledge in sign language into the schools’ curriculum.
In his response, the team lead and Head of section, Democracy and Governance, Clement Boutillier expressed satisfaction at the excellent impacts the Commission has made under the leadership of James Lalu in such a record time while he hinted that the United Nation has established a 7-year partnership with stakeholders in Nigeria to advance the course of persons with disabilities. Speaking further, the EU representative commended the synergy created by the Commission with the Nigeria police in the enforcement of the rights and dignity of PWDs.
In the same vein, he applauded the recent innovative voting procedures initiated by INEC for the inclusion of PWDs in the electoral process. Mr. Clement communicated the 10-year strategic plan developed by EU to holistically examine the fundamental issues that border on the general well-being of Persons with Disabilities.
He promised that the Disability community will always be carried along in the programmes of the European Union.