Associations of Sign Language Interpreters of Nigeria (ASLIN) has called for synergy among critical stakeholders to ensure full implementation of the recent Federal Government directive on the inclusion of sign language interpreters in major news programmes of all televisions stations in the country.
ASLIN President, Timothy Tinat, made the call at a press conference in Abuja recently.
Tinat said sign language interpreters made sacrifices at the national level, especially at the height of the coronavirus pandemic when they collaborated with the Presidential Task Force on COVID-19 to disseminate information to the deaf community.
He said they were sometimes given transportation fairs, but such action does not guarantee sustainability.
“So whatever promise or directive is coming from the Minister of Information, Alhaji Lai Mohammed on the inclusion of sign interpreters in major news items of TV stations in the country, there is a need for sustainability, and that can only happen when we institutions responsible take care of their own mandate, by making sure that what the minister said is followed through to full implementation,” he said.
“We understand that the use of sign language interpreters in news is part of the codes of the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC), but what happened with the implementation over the years is a problem.
“So there is a need for the Commission for Persons with Disabilities and NBC to synergise in order to ensure that there is an enforcement of this the minister’s directive.”
Tinat said ASLIN has developed a strategy to ensure full implementation of the directive, parts of which he said is an advocacy visit to the relevant stakeholders, including the Minister of Information and Culture, the Director-General of NBC, and all TV stations in the country.