The newly appointed General Manager of the Lagos State Office for Disability Affairs (LASODA), Dare Dairo has assured persons with disabilities in Lagos State of a more responsive, forward looking and goal oriented commission.
Speaking in an exclusive interview with BONews Service, Dare Dairo disclosed that he will ensure that LASODA is more interactive and responsive to the demands of PWDs in the state, thereby eliminating all form of challenges that the disability community in the state might be faced with.
Speaking on his plans as the new GM, Dairo explained that he will be working closely with relevant Ministries, Department and Agencies of government and also build disability disaggregated data to ensure effective planning for PWDs in the state.
“one of the low hanging fruits is to develop a disability disaggregated data for effective planning and inclusion of PWDs in all programmes of the government across the state.
“I will also ensure more synergy among MDAs on issues of inclusion, the priority, the people and the process.”
Understanding that disability issue is cross-cutting across various sectors, the GM buttressed that, “I will be engaging with critical MDAs.”
He also spoke on the importance of leveraging on technology to enhance disability-inclusion in the state.
“Technology is a big deal for PWDs, it’s a strong leverage for inclusion.
“Technology could be an option for people, but for PWDs, it is the. For PWDs, technology makes life livable, thus, I will work on improving the state of ICT within the commission,” he added.
Speaking on the status of the Lagos State Special People’s law, Mr. Dairo said, “the disability community in the state has not been able to actualize the full intent of the special peoples law.
“There are so much gaps to achieve, a lot need to be done and to achieve this, I will set SMART goals, highlighting long term and short term goals, to ensure full attainment of the law.
He said it is expected that in the next four years, people will have a wider understanding of the provisions of the Lagos State Special Peoples law and also see the implementation of the law.
Regarding working with disability clusters in the state, Mr. Dairo assured that, “I will focus on broad issues that affect all regardless of the type of disability and this is to limit the incidence of ‘thinking in silos’ and avoid unhealthy rivalry.”