By Nwaeze Oparaukwu, Umuahia
Executive director, Centre for Citizens with Disabilities(CCD) Mr David Anyaele has appealed to president Muhammadu Buhari to use his good offices and ensure that the disability bill is passed into law .
CCD boss, a Liberia civil war victim whose hands were amputated stated this in an interview with Newsdiaryonline in Umuahia, that the Disability bill has been in the National Assembly since 2000.
He maintained that PDP lost the vote of their members in the last general election because of the inability of the party to work on the bill and sign it into law despite all promises made.
The executive director who maintained that they were happy when during the campaign APC promised the disabled that if they vote them they will ensure that the bill is speedily addressed and passed into law and they will begin to enjoy all the accrued benefits.
Anyaele noted that the promise gladdened the heart of their members and en masse they voted for APC. He however regretted that two years down the line, the bill is yet to be signed into law.
“The Disability bill has been in the House since 2000.It is true that the APC government has made a significant impact on the bill, we are told that the bill is at the (harmonization) stage at National Assembly.We are appealing on our President to assist us to sign the bill into law as promised during their campaigns..”
He described the state of most disabled in the country as pathetic and unacceptable: “we are living in a society where people do not see us as equal, where people believe we must live in perpetual charity and depend on others.We want all this to come to an end and that is why signing the bill into law is important to all disabled”.
Anyaele maintained that United Nations Organization (UNO) convention has been adopted globally as a guide for promoting people with disability.He further noted that most often the descriptions ascribed to disabled are wrong and they are not happy about it..
He further pointed that disabled people see the society as very unfriendly not accommodating and marginalizing them adding that churches are the worst.
“The marginalization of disabled are worst in the churches, when religious narratives say people with disabilities are suffering became of their sins, disabled see church as hostile and antagonising to their plight and we are sad about it”.
Anyaele further stressed that CCD is a foremost rights based organization aimed at promoting and projecting issues concerning disabled . It has also been partnering with organizations both here in Nigeria and abroad that have helped in empowering the physically challenged in the areas of provisions of wheel-chairs among others.
