People living with disability under the aegis of the National Association of Persons with Physical Disabilities, NAPWPD, has demanded a share of the monetary palliative recently distributed to the 36 states and FCT.
Over 27 million, according to government’s statistics are currently living with one disability or the other in Nigeria.
President Bola Ahmed Tinubu announced last week that his government has distributed N5 billion each to the state governments and the FCT.
The amount totaling N185 billion is to be used to cushion the effects of fuel subsidy removal by the federal government on Nigerians.
In a statement released on Sunday the PWDs said five percent of the total sum should be allocated to their members in line with the provisions of the Discrimination Against Persons with Disabilities (PWDs) Prohibition Act.
Doing so, they said will go a long way to cushion the effects of the economic hardship brought by ending the petrol subsidy regime on their members.
The palliative is to ease the hardship of the petrol subsidy removal on Nigerians.
The national president of the association, Rilwan Mohammed,
who signed the statement said they are part of the country and should not be excluded from what the government is doing to assist Nigerians to survive the current economic situation in the country.
PWDs, he explained, need special protection, in his statement quoted by the News Agency of Nigeria, NANS.
“The impact of the removal has continued to have a debilitating impact on PWDs who are largely poor and vulnerable,” NAN quoted Mohammed as saying.
Citing the challenges facing his members, Mohammed said “The inability of PWDs to afford decent food, healthcare and necessities of life have been compounded and made worse with the recent situation in the country.”
According to him, “Our members now find it difficult to access public transport as the transport system is largely inaccessible and unaffordable to members of the disability community.”
“The vehicles should also be fitted with signage and electronic display for directions with audio announcements for the benefit of the deaf and the blind.
“All these are provided for in the disability law.
“Our demands, therefore, are not based on charity requests but consistent with legal provisions.”
Some states have announced various interventionists programmes after receiving the N5 billion palliatives from the federal government.
