NCPWD, Renewing The Hope Of Persons With Disabilities In Nigeria

The objective behind the establishment of the National Commission for Persons with Disabilities (NCPWD) as a Federal government of Nigeria agency, was among many reasons to promote, protect and prioritize the rights of persons with disabilities allover the country.

With About 25 million Nigerians reported to be disabled, amounting to about one in every eight Nigerians living with at least a form of disability, the enormous task on the commission requires a leadership with Vision, empathy and  competence to understand the needs of Persons With Disabilities.

This tasks, fell on the shoulders of a worthy man, Mr. James David Lalu npom, as the Pioneer Executive Secretary of the Commission in August 2020, an office he has maintained till date. His nomination by the president, M. Buhari and subsequent confirmation was widely commended based on his track record in the sector.

Under his watch, the commission has embarked on the following projects; Collection Of Data For Covid-19 Conditional Cash Transfer, 

Development Of The Operational Manual Of The Commission, Annual

International Day Of Persons With Disabilities, Alliance Building Retreat, 1-Day Stakeholders’ Planning And Consultative Meeting On Access To Transportation For Persons With Disabilities 2021,  Consultative Meeting, Capacity Building For Stakeholders To Enhance Access To Covid 19 Vaccine May 2021, One-Day Stakeholder Meeting On Making Disability Data Visible In Nigeria May 2021, Development Of The Operational Manual Of The Commission.

Others are, Technical Meeting For A White Paper On Disability-Disaggregated Data,

Stakeholders’ Consultation On Strengthening Disability Act For Accessibility Of Services For Person With Disabilities, provision of Access To Assistive Technology For/By Persons With Disabilities,

Program On Assistive Technology Case Development, Assistive Technology Strategy Scale Up/ Road Map Development, Capacity Building On Advocacy For Disability Inclusive Development, amongst others.

The Commission has since its establishment, has drastically improved the standard of living of many Persons With Disabilities and credit must be given to the ES, Mr James David Lalu for not resting on his oars as head of the Commission.