‘Reserved parking, 2% of job opportunities’ — Ganduje signs PWDs bill into law

Abdullahi Ganduje, governor of Kano, has signed the state’s Persons With Disabilities (PWD) Bill into law.

The state’s house of assembly passed the amendment bill on November 16 and was further approved on Tuesday during the weekly executive council meeting at the Kano government house.

The law provides allocation of two percent of all employment opportunities to PWDs — including physically challenged persons, visually impaired persons, impaired hearing, speech impairment, spinal cord injury patients, down syndrome patients and lepers.

The law also allocates a reservation of special parking lots and spaces in public buildings for persons with disabilities.

Speaking with journalists on Wednesday, Ganduje said the bill would spur the inclusion and development of PWDs in the state.

He said a ministry would be established to oversee the affairs of persons with disabilities and that the agency would be given all the necessary assistance to make it functional according to global standards.

The governor added that PWDs were part of those selected for entrepreneurial training at the Dangote Skills Acquisition Center, to make them self-reliant and to reduce unemployment.

He noted that the state has banned street begging and that a committee has been set up to evacuate beggars from the state.