by Tayo Olu,
In her quest to ensure that the rights of persons with disabilities are protected at all levels, the Chairman House of Representatives Committee on Disabilities, Princess Miriam Onuoha, has visited the Head of Civil Service, Dr. Folasade Yemi-Esan, at her office in Abuja.
Onuoha, on Friday, led the House ad-hoc Committee on Disability Affair to the office of the HoS to get progress report on the implementation of the Discrimination Against Persons with Disabilities (Prohibition) Act 2018, which prohibits discrimination on the basis of disability.
The lawmaker and her team were impressed to learn that Yemi-Esan had created a special desk (Disability Desk) for persons with disabilities in her office to help initiate relevant policies to improve their welfare.
As of 2021, it was estimated that about 31 million people are with disabilities in Nigeria and the disability law seeks to ensure that people with disabilities in the country are not treated like second-class citizens or denied access to public facilities.
Onuoha’s committee, during the visit, told Yemi-Esan its visit was also monitor the issuance of circular on the implementation and compliance to the Disability Act; status of the mandatory 5% employment quota to be allotted to Persons with Disabilities and total number of staff recruited or replaced (if any) in the year 2018 to date, among others.
According to Onuoha, the committee was carrying out the survey ahead of legislative hearings aimed at engaging stakeholders including the MDAs, to ascertain the status of implementation and compliance to the Act, and where applicable recommend sanction.
The lawmaker commended the Head of Service for her initiatives and urged her to do more in alleviating the plight of persons with disabilities.In her remarks, Yemi-Esan said she established the Disability Desk under the Department of Occupational Health and Safety to ensure that federal government workers with disabilities are cared for.
She said the department’s preliminary survey showed that there are about 352 persons with disabilities in Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) in the Federal Capital Territory, out of which 239 are males while 113 are females.
The Head of Service further revealed that 80% of workers with disabilities are married while a good number of them fall within Salary Grade Levels 6 to 10.
“All families have people living with disabilities. They are our brothers and sisters. Just as we look after them in our homesteads, we must also take care of them in our offices too, not pity them but ensure they contribute their own quota to the development of the country”, she added.
Yemi-Esan added that the Federal Government will continue to provide more opportunities for persons with disabilities in the area of recruitment, noting that in the 2021 Revised Public Service Rules (PSR) that five percent of all recruitment would be allocated to them.
As part of measures to cater for their needs, the Office has also taken steps to ensure that all MDAs restructure access to their offices to enable persons with disabilities to have easy passage, Dr. Yemi-Esan added.
She further said that her Office is working to roll out a Public Service Bus Scheme for civil servants, adding that the buses would be user-friendly for people with disabilities. Other areas in which the Office is intervening for the benefit of officers with disabilities are training and provision of affordable housing.
Onuoha was in the company of Hon. Ganiyu Abiodun Johnson, Hon. Dachung Bagos Musa and the Clerk of the Committee, Mr. Abdu Salam Olalekan.
