NCPWD boss praises FG over 5% inclusive policy for persons with disabilities

James Lalu, the executive secretary of the National Commission for Persons with Disabilities (NCPWD), has commended the federal government for including five percent employment opportunities for PWDs in the reviewed public service rules (PSR).

According to a statement by Mbanefo John-Michael, spokesperson of NCPWD, Lalu spoke in Lagos at a forum organised by the Clinton Health Access Initiative (CHAI), on issues bordering on assistive devices for the PWD community.

He applauded Folasade Yemi-Esan, head of the civil service of the federation, for the role she played in including the five percent employment quota as stipulated in the discrimination act of 2018.

He stated that inadequate assistive technology has negatively impacted the efforts of the government in ensuring considerable inclusion of PWDs in the NCPWD programmes.

“I want to implore everyone to be patient with the new administration led by his Excellency, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, GCFR, whom we rely upon to utilise the high intellectuals available in Nigeria and the disability community to provide the right working tools for PWDs in order to increase productivity,” the statement quoted Lalu as saying.

He reiterated the commission’s commitment to proving assistive devices and some other relief packages to PWDs despite the paucity of funds.

“We are making efforts towards mapping out the right policies that will take care of some of these problems,” he added.

“But, the government cannot do these things alone. Partnerships with relevant organisations are very critical. The commission appreciates CHAI for bringing issues that affect PWDs to public knowledge.”

He said the commission will “rely on the goodwill of the newly constituted standing committee on disability to push for legislative interventions to sustain the campaign for disability inclusion”.