Abuja – The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), has commended the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari for establishing an office on disability matters in the presidency.
This is contained in a statement signed Fatimah Mohammed, Chief Press Officer in the commission, and made available to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Monday in Abuja.
The statement said that Prof. Bem Angwe, Executive Secretary of the Commission, made the commendation when he received Dr Samuel
Ankeli, Senior Special Assistant (SSA) to the President on Disability Matters.
Angwe noted that the absence of concrete government policies in the past to address the plight of people with disabilities (PWDs) had resulted in dehumanizing conditions for some of them.
He said that the result of audit of public buildings recently conducted by the commission revealed that less than 10 per cent of public buildings in Nigeria provided access to people with disabilities.
Angwe pledged the commitment of the commission to promote, protect and enforce the rights of PWDs in the country.
He said that the commission would hold government at all levels accountable to their responsibilities for these vulnerable people in the
society.
“We will use the powers of the commission to make sure that issues of people living with disability are no longer regarded as soft issues in the country,” he promised.
He urged government at all levels to put appropriate mechanism in place to address the peculiar needs of PWDs.
Earlier in his remarks, Ankeli said that the purpose of the visit was to intimate the commission on the existence of his office.
He said that the office was vested with the responsibility of assisting the president on all matters relating to the welfare and well being of over 25 million Nigerians living with various forms of disabilities.
According to the SSA, the office will carry out its assignment by ensuring the inclusion of PWDs in government policies on employment, poverty alleviation, education/scholarship and healthcare
He added that the visit was also to explore possible areas of collaboration with the NHRC to realize the vision of President Mohammadu Buhari’s programmes and projects for PWDs in Nigeria. (NAN)
