PERSONS WITH DISABILITIES CALL FOR SPEEDY PASSAGE OF THE DISABILITY NATIONAL BILL

The Joint National Association of Persons with Disabilities Enugu State Council under the auspices of the coalition of disability organizations of Nigeria has called for speedy passage of the Disability National Bill before the National Assembly.

Members of the Association made the call during a public sensitization march to Federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria office in Enugu.

According to the Chairman of the Association, Mr Gab-Chikwe Nnamani, the bill if passed and assented to, would protect the interest of people with disabilities by granting them the opportunity to participate in all social endeavours.

He regretted that despite the importance of the bill, it had been delayed for eighteen years and called on the National Assembly to do the needful.

The Secretary of the Union, Mr. Augustine Onyeachonam said the delay in the passage of the bill amounted to denying the members, the opportunity to relate well with others.

Mr Onyeachonam stated that people with disabilities were facing hard times in assessing some public and private infrastructure following the delay in the passage of the bill.

The group also appealed to the Enugu State House of Assembly to pass the bill as had already been done by most State Houses of Assembly in the Country.

OBINNA OGBUKA