Nigeria Association of the Blind (NAB) FCT Chapter has called on government to implement 5% employment quota for persons with disabilities (PWDs).
They made the call during a Press Conference organized by the group on Thursday in Abuja to mark the end of the second phase of their project on employment of PWDs where they embarked on Follow-Up Visits To 4 Agencies Of The Federal Government And The Federal Capital Territory Administration.
In a press statement signed by Agada Jacob Aguda, the chairman of the association, the secretary of the association, Barr. Kassim Lawal who read the statement on behalf of the chairman said that between September 2020 and August 2021, the association embarked on the execution of a project titled: ‘Accessibility of Formal Employment to Persons with Disability in the FCT’.
“The project, which featured persons with other types of disabilities, was supported by Disability Rights Fund (DRF) and was aimed at promoting the implementation of the Discrimination against Persons with Disabilities (Prohibition) Act, 2018 (the Disability Rights Act), particularly section 29 of the act which mandates all employers of labour in public institutions to have at least 5% of persons with disabilities in their employment”.
He informed that during the implementation of the project, the association carried advocacy to four ministries, departments and agencies of both the federal government and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).
“The organizations include the Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA), the Federal Civil Service Commission FCSC), the National Directorate of Employment (NDE) and the FCT Vocational and Training Institute and they gave their commitments to ensuring disability components in their policies and programs. For instance, the Federal Civil Service Commission, an agency saddled with the responsibility of recruitment of labour force for the Government) informed the association at the material time of the existence of the Federal Government embargo on employment, and that it could do little or nothing until and unless the embargo is lifted. Other Organizations like the NDE, the FCT Vocational and Training Institute and the FCTA made commitments to reflect disability inclusion in their policies and programs.
Speaking on the milestones recorded in the course of the project, Kassim informed the press that as a result of the commitment of National Directorate of Employment (NDE), they requested from the Association to forward 74 (seventy-four) names of persons with disabilities for their three-month training with stipends. The Association selected 2 (two) persons from each State of the Federation, including the FCT, and across disability clusters. The training was extended to another 3 months; hence the program ran for a total of 6 (six) months.
On the approval of DRF after the end of the first phase, the association embarked on follow up visits to sustain the campaign but unfortunately, among the four agencies they wrote to, only the FCSC responded to its letter stating that there was no need for the follow-up visit since the federal government is yet to lift the embargo on employment.
As Persons with disabilities are still being denied equal opportunity to earn a living which was evident on the last recruitment exercise of the Federal Road Safety Commission when they blatantly put out in the notice of call for application that persons with disabilities are ineligible to apply, the group have vowed to continue their push until they see a situation where persons with disabilities already have 5% employment in all ministries, agencies and departments (MDAs) of government.
They called on MDAs as a matter of priority, ensure inclusion of disability in their programs and policies.
They also called on the Secretary to the Government of the Federation to urgently intervene to put a stop to the madness and eradicate all non-inclusionary recruitment policies.
“We urge him to use his good office to ensure the implementation of 5% quota for persons with disabilities in all public institutions, the embargo on employment having been lifted” he added.
Theophilus Odaudu, the program officer at DRF in Nigeria, in his remark thanked NAB FCT for being transparent and honest at the course of project. He said that NAB FCT were kind enough to inform DRF that when the project ended, some funds meant for the project was still remaining and that was what informed the follow up visits activity that just ended.
Speaking further, he encouraged the association to continue with the advocacy even though the project has ended, there are still a lot to do in the area of 5% employment of persons with disabilities because it is not yet implemented though there were some gains from the project. He urged them to continue to explore opportunities and apply for call for proposals and see how they can make more gains in this area because they are a lot of persons with disabilities who do not have access to employment.
The association appreciated other stakeholders, organizations of persons with disabilities, the relevant agencies, and the media for their contribution towards the success of the project.
