As the law banning commercial motorcycles in parts of Kaduna state takes effect next Tuesday, people living with disability (PWD) have called on Governor Mukhtar Yero and the Kaduna state House of Assembly to review the law in favour of the physically challenged in order not to make life more difficult for them.
Chairman, Kaduna state chapter of the Association of Polio Survivors of Nigeria, Comrade Rilwan Muhammed Abdullahi, told reporters yesterday in Kaduna that the law did not contain any exceptional cases regarding people living with disability, adding that the blind people cannot ride motorcycle on their own, that the suffering would be too much for them to bear.
He said: “Based on our disabilities, the ban of okada in Kaduna state would really increase our disability because it will stop us from moving from one place to another. In fact, they have restricted our movement because most of us are not opportune to have the convertible machines and some of us cannot even afford tricycle. We living with disability, the blind for instance, when you drop at the bus-stop to get to your house will be tasking. We don’t even know where to start.”
Abdullahi appealed to Governor Yero and the state house of assembly, to review the law in favour of people living with disability in order to reduce their mobility plight and in addition, allow them to contribute their quota to economy and political development of the state and to the country at large.
“We have written a letter to the state governor and copied the state House of Assembly to exempt us from this law so that our relatives, our friends can carry us on bike. The blind amongst us for example, even if they have convertible machine, they cannot drive themselves without assistance from their relatives and friends.
“This is why we try to draw the attention of the law makers to review the law in our favour by exempting us from the law that will take effect soon. So, we are waiting for the government and other key stakeholders to put us into considerations.”