The Federal Government says it has put in place a taskforce that will enforce accessibility standards on public buildings in Nigeria to ensure these structures are accessible to people with disabilities.
The Executive Secretary, National Commission for Persons With Disabilities, NCPWD, James Lalu made the disclosure at a two-day validation meeting of the National Accessibility Standards in collaboration with SightSavers on Wednesday in Abuja.
Mr. Lalu says the meeting was intended to brainstorm and come up with a standard document that would be presented to the Federal Executive Council for approval.
He noted that the document would serve as a guide on the construction of ramps and other infrastructure to ensure accessibility for PWDs in buildings.
According to him, “Our partnership with the Nigerian Police Force and other security agencies is to come up with a taskforce that’ll monitor accessibility of buildings in every city across the federation.
“We’re therefore calling on all owners of buildings to brace up because as soon as we print the document and distribute them, there’ll be no more excuses as compliance with the law becomes mandatory,” Lalu said.
Dr Sunday Ishiyaku, the country Director of SSI was represented by Razak Adekoya. The country director remarked that working with the Commission on the Accessibility Standard Code was something of joy and pride to his organization.
“We hope that at the end of the two day meeting, we will have a better document than what the committee earlier compiled”, he said.
Also speaking was Mr Jake Epelle, Founder and Chief Executive Officer, the Albino Foundation. Jake saluted Lalu for his efforts in moving the Commission forward.
“He observed that the National Accessibility Standard Code is a very important document and we will validate it. We will ensure the effective implementation of the document”.
Meanwhile, Mr Abdullahi Usman, National President of Joint National Association of Persons with Disability (JONAPWD) said accessibility is very important.
Usman, who was represented by the National Vice President of JONAPWD, Mr Adamu Shuaibu explained that before now, private sectors were operating without a standard code.
” However with the convergence of this meeting, there will be a uniformity between both sectors through the standard document guiding them”.
It is expected that after the two days meeting, a National Accessibility Standard Code document would be available, and on approval will be strictly enforced on all organizations.
This would go a long way in guaranteeing easy access to both public and private facilities for Persons with Disabilities across the country.