By Festus Zenda
The Federal Government has assured of its resolve to establish six special model schools in the country, with one in each of the six geopolitical zone. This information was revealed by the Executive Secretary, National Commission for Persons with Disabilities, NCPWD, Mr. James Lalu.
Mr. Lalu who gave the assurance in a press briefing yesterday to mark his one year in office, added that education for Persons with Disabilities from primary to secondary levels will be made free.
According to Lalu, scholarships will be made available for PWDs who merit it for both local and overseas studies. It was revealed that the commission has partnered the British High commission, with support from the British embassy to ensure the success of this initiative.
Lalu stated that successful PWDs who are beneficiaries of this partnership will soon depart the country for studies in the United Kingdom. The Executive Secretary commented on technical training of PWDs. He gave assurance that beneficiaries of these Government initiatives will bring back home their wealth of experiences to share with others for increased productivity amongst PWDs.
Commenting on a number of issues, among which is the issue of data collection, Mr. Lalu said the commission has successfully collated data of some 50,000 PWDs from across the 774 Local Government Areas and these are expected to be integrated into the Commission’s data base for the conditional cash transfer. He assured that very soon beneficiaries will begin to get alerts.
On the number of PWD beneficiaries in the N-Power program, Mr Lalu explained that about 40,000 PWDs were successfully registered. He remarked that this is the first time such large number of PWDs will be benefiting from the Federal Government intervention since the beginning of the program.
On employment, the Mr Lalu assured of the Commission’s commitment in her resolve to ensure every MDAs adopt and implement the five percent employment opportunities for PWDs.
In his words, “we are working with the Federal Character Commission and office of the Head of Services of the Federation to ensure full compliance”.
Explaining further Lalu said the Commission is preparing to embark on awareness tours across the 36 States of the Federation to discuss the need to ensure PWDs are given opportunities to contribute their quota to nation building through the five percent employment opportunities.
On law and justice, Mr Lalu stressed that the Commission is working with the Nigeria Police to set up Disability desks in all Police stations in the country. This effort, he said, was to ensure every PWD have access to the nearest police station to report any form of discrimination encountered.
On accessibility matters, Mr Lalu assured that the commission has done a lot and remains tireless in its efforts to advocate for accessibility facilities for PWDs in buildings
He assured that the commission will train and equip engineers, architects, and State Commissioners of works with the required knowledge and expertise on best standards that will ensure seamless accessibility for PWDs – starting from Abuja to other States of the Federation.
Mr Lalu, while commending the media for its relentless efforts in the struggle for emancipating PWDs from the shackle of slavery and discrimination, remarked on the credible partnerships so far formed in the Commission’s one year in office.
He pleaded with these worthy partners to continue to leverage on the partnership to ensure a nation free of discrimination – one aimed at carrying everybody along.