Group seeks establishment of disability desk in nation’s Airports

Dr. Chike Okogwu, founder of the Centre for Ability Rehabilitation and Empowerment (CARE), an NGO, has appealed to the Federal Government to establish a disability service desk in all domestic and international airports.

Okogwu said the idea was to assist as well as check cases of discrimination against persons with disabilities (PWDs).

He said this on Wednesday while handing over some assistive devices and operational guidelines for the aviation accessibility project for PWDs to the Executive Secretary, National Commission for Persons with Disabilities (NCPWD), in Abuja.

He said the project, which was initiated by CARE in collaboration with the OXFAM initiative, was designed to support PWDs in getting easy access to airport facilities across the country.

According to him, we have successfully completed a disability service desk at the Nnamdi Azikiwe Airport in Abuja to provide for all disability needs when travelling by air.

Okogwu, however, said the group could not sustain the project, hence the need for the commission to take over and ensure its sustainability.

”Our aim was to improve the accessibility and inclusivity of air travellers within the disability communities because the facilities we erected at the airport include the installation of ambi lifts and stair climbing for PWDs.

”Others are wheelchairs, umbrellas for persons with albinism, and manual waiting wheelchairs, all enabling better mobility for persons with disabilities.

”We also provided sign language for the deaf,” he said.

Okogwu expressed the need for the federal government to increase the budgetary allocation of NCPWD to one trillion naira (N1 trillion) as against the current allocation of one billion naira (N1 billion).

According to him, this will help the commission deliver on its mandate of attending to over 30 million persons with disabilities, which constitute 15 percent of Nigeria’s population.

Responding, the NCPWD boss, Mr. James Lalu, assured the visitors of the federal government’s readiness to take over the project with a view to providing relief to PWDs while travelling by air.

Lalu also expressed a commitment to deploy manpower that would ensure the sustainability of the project.

He also promised that the commission would deploy at least three of its personnel in each of the airports across the country to provide essential services to PWDs.

He appealed to the visitors to assist in training his staff to administer the project effectively.