The Executive Secretary, National Commission for Persons with Disabilities, Mr. James David Lalu has applauded the efforts of Sightsavers over the recent survey the organization conducted to ascertain the effects of COVID-19 on PWDs.
The Head Media and Publicity of the commission Mbanefo JohnMichaels in a statement indicated that the executive secretary gave the indication in his goodwill message on wednesday during the presentation of the report on Covid 19 effects held in Abuja by the Sightsavers.
According the Statement the Executive Secretary expressed appreciation for the consistent support of the Disability -Partner organization since the establishment of the Commission.
He promised to always give the necessary cooperation to them in carrying out their mandate.
Lalu informed the stakeholders that the Accessibility Compliance Certificate will soon be ready adding that it will become a working document for structural engineers, Heads of Agencies of government and other owners of public facilities in Nigeria.
According to him, the 300-page document as soon as it is ready will be passed through the National Assembly before it is ratified by the Federal Executive Council. He also disclosed that defaulters will face sanctions and pay fines as stipulated in section 1 of the prohibition Act against the discrimination of Persons with Disabilities.
Lalu similarly hinted that the Minister of Federal Capital Territory Mallam Mohammed Bello is working closely with the Commission to ensure full compliance for seamless accessibility. He further stated that the Minister has deployed Engineers across the FCT on inspection of public buildings and access points to conform with the required models of mobility for PWDs. “Copies of the document will be handed over to the stakeholders to serve as guide for them in the discharge of their duties” he revealed.
The ES clearly acknowledged that persons with disabilities are well trained; he further made reference to a call from one of the Federal Medical Centres requesting for the services of medical Doctors and, under 24 hours, there were several responses from not less than twelve doctors within disabilities communities across the country.
The ES appreciated President Muhammadu Buhari for bringing the policy on disability to bare. He promised to forward the report to the appropriate quarters and also urged the public to put an end to creating barriers in public spaces.
Earlier in his welcome remarks, the Country Director Sightsavers Dr. Sunday Ishaku expressed his gratitude to the ES for taking out time to attend the event. He further disclosed that the report of the effect of Covid 19 on PWDs is an outcome of the findings deduced from the field work based on the data gathered on PWDs.
He also stated that working with government Agencies became inevitable during the highpoint of covid 19 infections.
In the same vein, the country representative of the Foreign Common Development Office FCDO (UK), Ms. Grant Morris reiterated the organization’s commitment to continue to provide support to OPDs in line with the Sustainable Development Goals.