The Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development, Sadiya Umar-Farouq, says Nigeria has 28 million persons with disabilities (PWDs).
She stated this in Abuja yesterday at the 23rd edition of President Muhammadu Buhari’s Scorecard Series (2015 to 2023).
She said the government established the National Commission for Persons with Disabilities (NCPWD) to enhance the lives of PWDs.
She said the commission had developed a strategic plan from 2022 to 2026 to implement programmes and activities that would bring the PWDs into the mainstream of development in social and humanitarian interventions in the country.
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“The NCPWD has to some extent achieved a lot in making life easy and inclusive for PWD across the country.
“The Prohibition Against Discrimination of Persons with Disability Act is another strong weapon used to checkmate exploitation and abuse against PWDs across the country.
“The Act has mandated all Government Ministries and Agencies (MDAs) to reserve at least five per cent slot for the employment of PWDs.
“The National Building Code has also been reviewed to make all buildings in the country to be disability friendly to make it easy for PWDs to have easy access,” she said.
The minister also said her ministry had so far impacted the lives of 15 million families through the National Social Investment Programme (NSIP) since 2016.
”The NSIP has provided assistance and hope to millions of Nigerians. Let me once again list them as the national homegrown school feeding programme, the job creation unit, the national conditional cash transfer, and the government enterprise and employment programme,” the minister said.
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