By Chukwunyere Kelsey Nwosu, Abuja
Minister of Youth Development, Dr. Jamila Bio-Ibrahim has assured the ministry’s readiness to support and partner with the National Commission for Persons with Disabilities (NCPWD) to protect the rights and dignity of young people with disabilities.
The minister gave the assurance during her courtesy visit to the Disability Commission in Abuja on Tuesday.
The Executive Secretary of the National Commission for Persons with Disabilities, Dr. James David Lalu, while welcoming the Honorable Minister of Youth Development, Dr. Jamila Bio Ibrahim, and her team, spoke on issues of nation building as it concerns Nigerian youths and persons with disabilities. He mentioned the importance of leadership skills for persons with disabilities and the need to provide mentoring programs and skills training with the goal of empowering the youth to become future leaders.
The Executive Secretary expressed gratitudes for the minister’s visit and highlighted the importance of recognizing and supporting persons with disabilities in Nigeria. He emphasized on PWDs contributions in various fields and called for collaboration between the ministry and the commission to provide opportunities for persons with disabilities and also to establish a bilateral committee between the Ministry for Youth and the National Commission for Persons with Disabilities.
“Our request with the ministry remains that each and every program of the ministry, 10% of the program should be allocated to the disability community. The National Commission is ever very willing and committed to be a part of that innovation within the ministry. The disability community are very intelligent and smart people who have a lot to contribute to the development of Nigeria.”
Dr. Lalu appreciated the governor of Nasarawa State for passionately approving the 5% employment opportunity for the disability community in the state. He used the opportunity to commend him for approving total free education for the disability community in Nasarawa state.
“We applaud the initiative of the governor and assured to do everything possible to collaborate with Nasarawa state to push for more opportunities for the disability community. So now Nasarawa state does not need scholarship from the federal government and we use this opportunity to call on other governors to see the need for domestication of the disability law in their respective states to provide opportunity for disability community, at present, we have 21 states that have passed the law. Out of the 21 states, only seven of the 21 states have started implementation of the law.
“We are calling on those who have passed the law or signed the bill into law, to start the implementation with immediate effect while those who have not done anything, we are calling on them to look at this matter and give the opportunity for the disability community. We have very smart and intelligent person with disabilities who have the skills to provide leadership in this respect and we are calling for close collaboration with everyone.
“Since our assumption of office, the National Commission for Persons with Disabilities, have been able to open windows of opportunities for over 200 persons with disabilities. We gain employment in different facets of life. Today we have some persons with disabilities who are working in the Federal Ministry of youth and we need more of them to be included in this ministry to provide more opportunities. Issues of persons with disabilities is everybody’s issue and therefore all of us must come together to promote disability inclusion because nobody is immune to disability until we go back to creator. Everybody has its own time. Most of us, as you see us today with disability, we never thought or expected it.
“To our commitment with Nigeria universities, we are going to kick start a lot of degree programs in our institutions this year. The five years’ moratorium term has ended today being the 16th January, 2024. Now advocacy and awareness will be followed by enforcement of the law. Section two to section 16 of the discrimination against persons with disabilities talk about accessibility for persons with disabilities to the physical environment, transportation facilities, airports, and aircraft, water transportation, railway. They are provided in the law and therefore the disability Commission has produced a National Accessibility Regulation which is expected to provide a standardization for accessibility facilities across the federation so that whatever accessibility facility you see in Lagos should be at the same standard with the disability facility we see in common.
“The National Commission for Persons with Disabilities is going to provide the necessary regulatory powers to make sure that compliance is enforced across board. The prohibition section six of the discrimination against persons with disabilities provide a five years’ transitory period within which every public building is supposed to be made accessible for persons with disabilities. From when the law was signed and the bill was turned into an act exactly on the 17 January 2019 and here today 16 of January 2024, we are now transiting from era of advocacy, awareness of the law to regulation and enforcement. Enforcement is expected to commence with immediate effect as soon as we secure the presidential approval for the setting of the Inter-Ministerial Task Force committee. Once that task force is set up, enforcement will start. Everybody know, no public building will be spared.
Speaking further, Dr. Lalu added “We are going to start with public buildings and we will visit all of the places. Our engineers will go and do the necessary assessment. We will start with the government offices first make sure they are complying with the law so from there we will go down all the way to United nations building down to World bank to different places. We will go and do assessment in Aso Villa to make sure that our presidential villa is adequately accessible for persons with disabilities. Because the government of renew hope is a government that respect the rule of law and we are going to do that to make sure that interest of person with disabilities are protected everywhere. To provide accessibility for the disability community.
“The Renewed Hope administration of President Bola Ahmad Tinubu came with a promise for inclusion of persons with disabilities. When we met him then as a presidential candidate, he promised us that when he assumed office he is going to do a lot of things beyond our expectation. We have started seeing it already. The president has signed the African Protocol on Disability. Today we are working on the deposition of this African Protocol instrument for the ratification at the African Union. He went ahead to appoint one of us as the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Disability Affairs, which the commission and the official Senior Special Assistant have collaborated so strongly to make sure that we push for more advocacy opportunities for the disability community in Nigeria.
“We have already started providing empowerment program. Assistive devices are already being in circulation for the disability community. We will also remain committed in providing scholarship for persons with disabilities. Hundreds of people have received scholarship last year. This year we are increasing the number to include some thousands of persons with disabilities across different institutions.
The Vice Chancellor of Nasarawa State University, Professor Suleiman Bala Mohammed who came with representatives, expressed appreciation for the Minister’s support and commitment to the employment of persons with disabilities and acknowledged the excellent work of the Executive Secretary.
He emphasized the university’s commitments to education for persons with disabilities, to establish a center for the studies of disabilities and to continue expanding opportunities for PWDs, expanding their admission to the university and providing them with free education and accommodation. He appealed for support from the ministry of youth Development to establish a world-class support center at the university, ensuring inclusive education and the accessibility of youth centers for persons with disabilities.
During her address, the Honorable Minister for Youth Development, Dr. Jamila Dio Ibrahim highlighted the importance of inclusiveness and equity for all, particularly for young persons with disabilities. She made a commitment to inclusive policies that promote accessibility, rights, dignity, participation, and decision-making processes for persons with disabilities. She commended Nasarawa State University’s initiatives in supporting students with disabilities but also suggests assessing individuals’ skills before admission into conventional classroom systems. She pledged support from her ministry in partnership with Nasarawa State University’s intervention for persons with disability while promoting collaborations through bilateral committees and also establishing a desk office specifically dedicated to addressing disability-related issues within her ministry. She pledged to support the commission’s initiatives and partnership to address the challenges faced by young persons with disabilities. Supporting and empowering persons with disabilities through initiatives and interventions.
“I assure the commission that the 10% disability quota that was requested to be included in all of the ministry’s activities by the Executive Secretary will be granted. And I look forward to working with the commission to ensure that the rights of young people with disabilities are protected and they live with dignity and earn very good sources of livelihood. And to take as many young people with disabilities off the streets as possible in order to give them a dignified life.
“We have proposed some programs for PWDs across the six geopolitical zones, which include mentorship and an agency of the Ministry of Youth, which is a center for leadership training. We also hope that we are able to bring more young people to learn more about the leadership that is required to actually address challenges of persons with disabilities. Because leadership requires that we build capacities in order to ensure that the voices of the constituencies that we represent are well heard, and, in fact, not just being heard, but they’re acted upon.” She said.