Coalition urges Agbu, Taraba governor, to sign disability act, establish commission

The Coalition of the Advocacy for Disability Act (ADAC) has urged Kefas Agbu, the new governor of Taraba, to sign the state’s disability act into law.

Grace Jerry, ADAC cluster anchor and executive director of the inclusive friends association (IFA), spoke on Monday at the stakeholders’ consultative forum meeting on the Taraba state disability bill held in Jalingo, the state’s capital.

Jerry also enjoined the governor to establish a disability commission to help drive implementation of the bill when it becomes a law in the state.

She said the meeting was held to review the Taraba state disability bill.

“We commend governor Darius Ishaku for his effort in pushing the bill to the state house of assembly. He has written his name in gold despite losing the senatorial bid,” she said.

She said the United Nations statistics put the world’s population of people living with disabilities at roughly 15 percent, adding there are more than 30 million people in Nigeria who have one form of disability or the other.

“With these estimates, Taraba state has 541,470 persons who have one form of disability or the other considering the population of over 3,609,800,” she said.

“No doubt, the community of persons with disabilities has suffered discrimination, neglect, barriers, poverty and exclusion due to the inadequacies and in some instances, absence of systems and structure.

She said having legislation that provides for people’s rights and seeks accountability from state and non-state actors would bring about accessible systems and structures.