By Rosemary Ogbonnaya
Executive Secretary, National Commission for Persons With Disabilities, NCPWD, Mr. James David Lalu has said that data collected for public infrastructures in Nigeria must be accurate and precise in order to determine the right measurement for Accessibility models.
Lalu disclosed this recently while addressing members of Accountability Lab Organization who payed a courtesy visit to his office in Abuja.
“Everywhere in the world, information gathering is key to planning for the development of the society,” he opined.
The NCPWD boss appreciated the group for showing interest in the Commission especially at this time the Commission is working to ensure that minimum accessibility requirement is strictly adhered to at public buildings by organizations.
Lalu further hinted that the Commission is working closely with COREN and the FCDA to provide the standard measurements for Accessible infrastructures in Abuja.
He disclosed that the Commission is embarking on working visits to Federal Schools and Colleges to ensure that the minimum standards are factored into the school curriculum for Building engineering students who will eventually receive special certification upon their graduation.
In his reaction, the Country Director of the Group, Mr. Friday Odeh who said that Accountability Lab is in partnership with the Nigeria Bureau of Statistics thanked the ES for opening his doors to accountability.
He described the Lab. as an organisation solely interested in carrying out surveys on government organizations primarily to ensure Open Government Partnership, OGP,which guarantees access by private corporations and individuals to government offices.
Odeh described the process as a channel for testing the compliance and the impacts of policies and programmes of government on individuals in the society in the spirit of good governance.
He further proposed partnership with the Commission and pledged the Group’s readiness to assist the Commission towards the commemoration of the 2021 International day for Persons with Disabilities and the forthcoming PWDs’ National Summit slated for 3rd December, 2021.
