The Centre for Citizens with Disabilities (CCD) has called on the Federal Civil Service Commission to ensure equitable recruitment of Persons with Disabilities (PWDs) as the National Commission for Persons with Disabilities (NCPWD) seeks approval for recruitment of staff for the Commission to enhance the discharge of its activities.
The Executive Director of CCD, David O. Anyaele, made this statement in a press release, stating that “the Executive Secretary of the NCPWD should collaborate with the Federal Civil Service Commission to ensure that every recruitment exercise is open, transparent and no qualified person with a disability is schemed out of the opportunity on the grounds of disability.”
Mr Anyaele further stated that “this is imperative because applicants with disabilities are painfully discriminated by Ministries, Departments, and Agencies (MDA) to the extent that citizens with disabilities have been picketing MDAs with a demand to offer them employment.
“As such, an agency that focuses on disability matters must ensure that qualified persons with disabilities have a greater majority in the staffing of the Commission.”
The CCD boss revealed that the loop sided composition of the commission staff in which out of about 61 staff of the Commission, 48 are persons without disabilities, 13 are persons with disabilities, while others are majorly volunteers.
“This disability unfriendly composition of the Commission’s staff is unacceptable for an agency vested with the responsibilities for the education, health care, and the protection and promotion of the social, economic, civil rights of citizens with disabilities in Nigeria.” He said.
Mr Anyaele also said that “we are mindful of the endemic politics of recruitment in the public service in Nigeria, whereby politicians (Ministers, National Assembly members, Governors down to councillors) use their proximity to the ruling party to force the selection of their thugs and party loyalist to juicy positions.
“The National Commission for Persons with Disabilities should be free from recruitment of none professionals. The commission is a specialist government agency that requires competent staff to deliver on its mandate.
“These professionals are many within the disability community. There is the need to look inward within the disability community first before recruiting persons without disabilities into the Commission.”