By Joe Chukindi,
Anambra State Governor, Professor Chukwuma Soludo, has been urged to strengthen established policies for the welfare, rights, and protection of persons with disabilities (PWD) in the state.
Stakeholders of the disability community in Anambra made the call on Thursday during an event by the Anambra State Disabilities Rights Commission (ANSDRC) in Awka, the state capital.
Speaking at the event tagged “The Journey So Far,” the stakeholders called on Soludo to not only strengthen laws that will protect their rights but to also stand by the commission to enable it to achieve its goals and objectives.
Speaking at the event, former Nigerian ambassador to South Africa, Mrs Uche Ajuluchukwu, said, “I am calling on Governor Chukwuma Soludo to show a sense of inclusion in this administration and a policy of continuity.”
Noting that his predecessor had domesticated the disability rights law, which is in the United Nations charter, Ajuluchukwu urged Soludo not to abandon people with disabilities.
She said: “It is not fair that no single naira was budgeted or released to the commission since Governor Soludo took over. Why did the Anambra State House of Assembly pass the 2023 budget without including provisions for funding the State Disability Rights Commission? I am reminding them and Mr Governor to do something about the PWDs and ANSDRC now in case they forgot.
“Our members are focused on what they are doing. They are people you can trust. The PWDs who have undergone computer training should be recruited as computer and data officers. They are people that cannot be bribed to alter data once it is genuinely computed.”
The Disability Rights Commission also celebrated some of its members who won medals during the national sports festival in 2020, 2021, and 2022.
The athletes won their medals in badminton, shotput, javelin, and weightlifting, among others.
The commission also presented certificates to 12 members of the disability community who were trained in Information and Communication Technologies.
