PRESIDENT Muhammadu Buhari has approved the creation and implementation of  database of People Living With Disabilities (PLWD), Internal Displaced Persons (IDPs) and less privileged persons in the country.

Daily Trust reported that Samuel Ankeli, the Special Assistant to the President on Disability Matters disclosed this during a press conference in Abuja.

He said the introduction of the Basic Registry and Information System in Nigeria (BRISIN) would become the powering instrument to build the disability databank for the people living with disability, less privileged and IDPs. 

Ankeli added that the decision would enable government to carry and incorporate PLWD into government’s social programmes.

“Planning and managing these groups of citizens require getting close to them, knowing and understanding what their needs are and how to carry them along in applying social welfare system,” he said.

“So on my second appointment as Senior Special Adviser to Mr President on the issues of Disability, I felt that it is time for every one living with disability to be known and identified wherever they are, so that the government plan to carry PLWD along in the social development of Nigeria is achieved.”

He said the exercise will begin first in the FCT.

Goodluck Jonathan, the former president of Nigeria, declined to sign into law the Discrimination Against Persons with Disabilities (Prohibition) Bill 2009, after the it was passed by the National Assembly in 2015 and 2011, respectively.

The Bill was reintroduced and passed in November 2016.

In January 2017, President Buhari signed the Bill into law after he had earlier declined it like his predecessor.

The law prohibits discrimination on the basis of disability and imposes sanctions including fines and prison sentences on those who contravene it.

It also stipulates a five-year transitional period for modifying public buildings, structures, and automobiles to make them accessible and usable for people with disabilities.

The law will also establish a National Commission for Persons with Disabilities, responsible for ensuring that people with disabilities have access to housing, education, and healthcare.

The Commission will be empowered to receive complaints of rights violations and support victims to seek legal redress among other duties.

Vincent Ufuoma

Reporter at International Centre for Investigative Reporting | Author Page

You can reach out to me on Twitter via: vincent_ufuoma