By Leonard Okachie
The Abia State Commission for the Welfare of the Disabled Persons has organised a training workshop for Permanent Secretaries on the implementation of Abia State Disability Law and Disability Inclusive Governance.
The training, which held in Umuahia, featured topics on “Understanding Disability Issues”, “Introduction to Abia Disability Law” and “Disability Inclusive Budget”.
The commission’s Chairman, Mr David Anyaele, said the training was meant to enhance the ability of permanent secretaries “to make informed, data-driven decisions that benefit the disability community”.
He also said that the workshop was designed to empower them to develop, implement, and monitor policies and programmes that benefit the disability community.
Anyaele, who doubles as Special Assistant to the Governor on Disability Matters, described permanent secretaries as key officials of the state that are responsible for driving governance across board.
He said: “We believe that if the permanent secretaries are secured in this process, it will go a long way towards ensuring that we have Abia that is inclusive and free from discrimination of rights of persons with disabilities (PWDs).
“If you make awareness but the key drivers of government policies and programmes are not empowered you can’t go far.
“And that is why we are building the capacity of permanent secretaries because it makes it easier for them to generate policies that will support their ministries based on specific mandates.”
Responding, the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Power and Public Utilities, Mrs Nwanyieze Utum, commended the organisers, saying that the training had exposed them to key issues around disabilities.
“Before now, we were not really informed about the activities of PWDs, but being part of this programme has exposed us to really understand their plight.
“We are leaving here with better understanding on how to handle their issues and include them in all our activities in the ministries and state as a whole,” Utum said.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the commission, a fortnight ago, organised a similar training for chairmen of the 17 local government areas across the state.(NAN)
