Ebonyi State leads way in disability rights with new commission bill

Judith Echefu, Abakaliki

Ebonyi State House of Assembly has made a significant stride towards promoting the rights and well-being of persons with disabilities by passing the Ebonyi State Disability Rights Commission Bill into law.

The landmark legislation aimed to promote the full inclusion of persons with disabilities into mainstream society, particularly in areas such as education, health, empowerment, rehabilitation, and civil rights.

An NGO organization with the sole aim of helping persons with disability, as well as other CSOs, had advocated for the passage of the Bill.

Ebonyi Disability Rights Commission aims to promote the full involvement of persons with disabilities in society, especially in the education, health, empowerment, rehabilitation, and civil rights, thereby improving their standards of life and encourage and support their
supporting transformation.

Speaker of the House of Assembly, Moses Odunwa, issued an instruction that the Clerk of the House should forward the Bill to the Government House for the Governor’s assent.

“Section 34 of the bill mandates that walkways be provided for persons with disabilities and that pedestrian bridges must include ramps.

“Subsection “F “of Section 34 further stipulates that any vehicle not transporting a person with a disability and parked along the PWD walkways will incur a fine of 5,000 naira per hour. If the offender fails to comply, they will be prosecuted and may face a fine of 20,000 naira or a three-month prison sentence”, a close look by Business Day revealed.

The State Government planned to commence the construction of two special schools for the blind and individuals with hearing impairments. Stated the Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice, Uruchi Odo.

This goal has taken over 13 years to come to an achievement, said the Ebonyi Central Coordinator of Persons with Disabilities, Ifeanyi Nwokporo.

Nwokporo who was present during the proceeding of the House and the passage of the Bill, therefore thanked the 7th Assembly for bringing this goal to light.