Stakeholders Propose Persons With Disability Commission In Gombe

Stakeholders in Gombe State have advocated the establishment of Gombe State Persons With Disability Protection Commission to improve the wellbeing of people with various forms of disability in the state.

The stakeholders who were drawn from the media, civil society organisations, associations of persons with disability, security agencies and government officials made the advocacy after they drafted a proposed bill to the National Assembly tagged; ‘Gombe State Persons With Disability Protection Bill’ during a stakeholders meeting organised by a non- governmental organization, Palladium, with support from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) in Gombe.

After drafting the bill, the stakeholders promised to take it to the Gombe State House of Assembly for their deliberations and passage into law.

The stakeholders opined that if the bill is passed into law, the commission for persons with disability would be established and rights of the victims would be properly protected in all aspects in the society.

In her remarks, the Anchor Advocacy for Disability Act Cluster (ADAC) and executive director, Inclusive Friends Association (IFA) Grace Jerry, represented by Moses Oluwaseyi, said the meeting on the Gombe State Disability Bill was very important for ADAC, communities of persons with Disabilities (PWDs) and Gombe State at large.

According to her, there are over 30 million persons in Nigeria who have one form of disability or the other, adding that Gombe has 600, 000 persons with various forms of disability.

She called for speedy passage of the bill by the assembly and the subsequent assent by the state governor so that persons with disability would be transformed into useful members of the society.