The Chairman of the Federal Civil Service Commission ( FCSC), Prof. Tunji Olaopa, on Wednesday urged the National Commission for Persons with Disabilities (NCPWD) to gather credible data about its members.
Olaopa spoke when the officials of the commission led by their Executive Secretary Chief Ayuba Gufwan paid him a courtesy visit.
He said that the disabilities commission should find out the factors responsible for the rise of its membership and how they could be mitigated. He added that credible data would help the disabilities commission in its advocacy.
While commending President Bola Tinubu for supporting the commission, Olaopa promised to bring to the attention of the Head of Service of the Federation the alleged discrimination against people with disabilities by MDAs .
According to him, the FCSC diligently adheres to the statutory provision that five percent of its employment should be for people with disabilities . But he also challenged the commission to clearly define who qualifies for disability .
He urged the commission to educate its members on the need to use all the vacancies meant for them as there are some vacancies in the sciences that are not utilised .
Olaopa promised that the FCSC would create a direct channel of communication with the disabilities commission.
While cautioning the commission to be more effective in its advocacy , Olaopa urged the disabilities commission to relate with NGOs, agencies, the and private sector as government alone cannot provide all the opportunities they seek.
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He urged the commission to specifically identify its qualified members so that they would not be denied opportunities because of their not having the right connections. He also urged them to study other countries to see how they are responding to people with disabilities.
Earlier, Barrister Chief Ayuba Gufwan said that he and his officials were at the FCSC in order to familiarise themselves with the commission.
He lamented that there is discrimination against people with disabilities even though some of these people such as lawyers, doctors and teachers are very qualified professionals. He cited the case of a lady with disabilities who got a job offer but could not take it because of the inaccessibility of the office.
According to him, the number of people with disabilities is rising and it has hit 35.5 million in the country because as people get old, they are faced with challenges such as blindness, deafness and a lack of mobility .
