Ms. Ekaete Judith Umoh, the Executive Director of FACICP Disability Plus, a Disabled Peoples Organization, DPO, has commended President Muhammadu Buhari for setting up the National Commission for Persons with Disabilities in line with the Discrimination Against Persons with Disabilities (Prohibition) Act 2019.
Umoh, who is the National President of the Joint National Association of Persons with Disabilities, JONAPWD, explained that the setting up of the commission is a welcome development as it would help to promote the interest of persons with disabilities in the country.
Umoh gave the commendation while speaking at a webinar on Rethinking Leadership – Focus on Diversity, Integration and Inclusion which was organized by Nigeria Prize for Leadership.
Umoh advised that it is essential to rethink disability while rethinking leadership as that would remove the barriers to effect participation of PWDs in leadership positions.
She stressed that, “In rethinking leadership, we must rethink disability.
“We are too large a population to be left behind, our impairment is not strong enough to exclude us in leadership positions.
“Our invisibility is because the society sees our impairment ass a problem but the problem with PWDs is not the impairment, it is the barriers that we face
The JONAPWD National President recommended that, “it is our collective effort to design interventions to address the barriers we face.
“Take away your eyes from our impairments and remove the barriers that stand in our ways of participating in leadership positions,” she added.
She thereafter tasked political parties to create space for PWDs in their political structure.