by Chris Agbo
Association of Lawyers with Disabilities in Nigeria (ALDIN) in a letter addressed to President Buhari which was titled INAUGURATION OF THE “NATIONAL COMMISSION FOR PERSONS WITH DISABILITIES” ESTABLISHED UNDER SECTION 31 OF THE “DISCRIMINATION AGAINST PERSONS WITH DISABILITIES(PROHIBITION) ACT, 2018” signed by the President Barrister Daniel Onwe and the Secretary Barrister Gaius Ogan expressed their appreciation to the President for his magnanimity in assenting the “Discrimination Against Persons With Disabilities (Prohibition) Bill, 2018” into law which past Presidents had bluntly refused to sign which portrayed them as being insensitive to the challenges and pains that the average person living with disability in Nigeria experiences on a daily basis. This law no doubt has brought Nigeria into the committee of nations that have created an inclusive society.
ALDIN in the letter also reminded the President that in as much as the Act is a crucial part of the odyssey to an inclusive society, it cannot in itself be effective without the wheels that will propel it. The urgent inauguration of the “National Commission on Persons with Disabilities” will complete the success story of this act in the life of persons with disabilities in Nigeria. The Act without the establishment of the Commission is like rifle without a bullet.
