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Tag: disabilities

  • Students with disabilities make bicycles, beads in Anambra

    While most physically challenged persons depend on charity to survive, the case is different with  challenged students of Jesus Abandoned International Technical and Vocation School, Umuezeopi, Oraifite, Ekwusigo Local Government Area of Anambra State.

    These students have proven that physically challenged persons can be productive.

    They not only produce Rosary beads and necklaces, but also construct bicycles and many other handiworks.

    Speaking with The Nation, founder of the school, Rev. Fr. Anthony Chidi Ananwa, said the institution was established in 2015, to help physically challenged persons achieve their dreams and be self-dependent upon graduation from the school.

    He said: “In this school, our students who are physically challenged construct bicycles, make beads, necklaces and many other handiworks.

    “They are able to mould some components of the bicycle using local technology.

    “We want to demonstrate that nobody is disabled. Somebody may be physically challenged, but as long as his brain is intact, there is no limit to what such person can do.

    “This school challenges persons with disabilities to think beyond their disabilities, so that, besides fending for themselves and becoming bread winners, they will also be employers of labour.”

    Father Ananwa underscored the importance of practical-driven education for all categories of learners.

    “The whole idea is to deliberately change the scope of our education system from theory-driven to practical or technology-driven.

    “There is dire need for the Nigerian child to acquire holistic education by learning both the theoretical and practical aspects of any field of endeavour.

    “This will enable school leavers have skills to fall back on after graduation; instead of looking for white collar jobs that hardly exist.

    “It is our desire that once a student leaves this institution, he will become self employed by fixing himself in a responsible venture that will put food on his table,” he said.

    Leader of the students, Edward Ezinna explained how his team was able to produce a bicycle in two days.

    He said: “We construct bicycles using broken parts of wheelchairs used by some of us. Instead of leaving them to rust away, we gather such irons and pipes.

    “We also mould some other component parts ourselves and weld them together into complete bicycle.

    “The only component of the bicycle we don’t fabricate ourselves is the special tyre which does not have tube, valve or air.

    “We import that component from Australia. This tyre brand is a new technology that is highly durable, and cannot be pierced by nail,” he said.

    The 15–year-old JSS1 student however regretted that finance was a major challenge limiting them from large scale production.

    He called on government at all levels to come to their aid.

    “The students are divided into groups of three; and it takes each group two days to produce one bicycle.

    “We are able to fabricate 25 bicycles. It took us only one week to do this.

    “There is a machine they call ‘start and weld’. We don’t have it, but it costs a lot of money to procure.

    “If we have people that will sponsor us financially to procure this machine, it will help us improve in the new innovation,” he added.

  • People with disabilities seek assent to law

    People living with disabilities, under the aegis of Movement for Disability Forum, have urged President Muhammadu Buhari to sign the law which prohibits discrimination against them.

    They said they should be allowed to enjoy the dividends of democracy, as enshrined in the constitution.

    The group’s Coordinator, Comrade Kehinde Oshilaja, said yesterday at a stakeholders’ forum organised for the newly-elected politicians on the All Progressives Congress (APC) platform, said the law should have been signed since because it was passed years ago by the legislature

    He  said Nigerians with disabilities were facing  hardship because of the absence of the law, noting that since 1999, “successive presidents have refused to sign the National Disability Bill into law without any logical reason.”

    According to him,  the condition of the people living with disabilities is nothing to write home about, as they wallowed in abject poverty.

    Oshilaja enlisted the support of the public and the international community in getting the law signed.

    He urged the elected officers not to forget them after being sworn-in on May 29, “because we voted for them despite our predicament.”

  • Groups partner on disabilities awareness

    The Children’s Development Centre (CDC), a school that caters for the education and developmental needs of children with learning disabilities, is collaborating with the Women’s Technology Empowerment Centre (W.TEC) to raise awareness about developmental disabilities on Saturday.

    The event being held to commemorate Developmental Disabilities Awareness Month, which takes place every March and World Autism Month, which takes place in April, would feature CDC learners showcasing skills they have learnt courtesy of both organisations – in addition to talks about how early skilled intervention can help people with developmental disabilities learn skills and be productive. It wil also teach  strategies on how family members can practice physical and mental self-care.

    A statement by W.TEC noted that art works, baked goods, Tie and Dye as well as computer technology works by the pupils would be on display.

    The statement reads: “CDC & W.TEC will host a Showcase event on Saturday, April 27th, 2019 to raise awareness of developmental disabilities and celebrate the achievements of its students. The students will showcase skills they have developed through the support services provided by both CDC and W.TEC. There will be demonstrations of these skills through Arts, Bake products, Tie & Dye, and Computer Technology.

    “This event will highlight the year-long partnership between CDC and W.TEC, where selected students participate in weekly technology classes. These classes seek to use technology to strengthen learning in the areas of numeracy, literacy and art.”

    Guests expected at the event include: Mrs. Kemi Ogunyemi, Commissioner, Lagos State Health Services Commission; Mrs. Joyce Onafowokan, Special Adviser to the Lagos State Governor on Social Development; Tuebi Abidd (Twale) of Wazobia FM; Dr. Mojeed Bello, Dr. Yewande Oshodi and Mrs. Ronke Nylanda.

  • When theatre defied disability

    Lagos Theatre Festival is usually filled with theatrical intrigues. This year’s edition was not an exception when children with various disabilities were made to mount the stage to entertain and thrill the audience. It was an apt moment to cherish as the children mimed, rapped, drummed, sang, danced and gyrated to the rhythm of sounds emanating in and around the stage. Edozie Udeze who watched them perform various acts on stage reports on how the show titled Against All Odds truly justified its title.

    The stage drama was titled Against All Odds.  And it was really apt to call it so.  It was a set of Down syndrome and autism students from in and around Surulere, Lagos, who have been taught how to sing, dance and play musical instruments.  It was indeed amazing to see them on stage, so gregarious, energetic and boisterous.  They were so happy to come together to keep the audience amused with their artistic renditions.  They were led by Uche Onah, an artiste and a specialist in handling children with disabilities.  It was the occasion of the Lagos Theatre Festival held at the Freedom Park, Lagos, last week.  Against all odds was made a compulsory watch.  It ran thrice everyday just to encourage people to go and see how courageous the children were.  The show really pulled the highest crowd with Onah ever ready and eager to pull new strings each time the show went on stage.

    The show began with the birth of a baby girl.  It was discovered that she had a deformity.  The father couldn’t understand it.  Yet she was taken to a special school, where, on a wheel chair, she learnt how to bake, how to play a drum.  Even though she did not have the physical strength to concentrate, she nonetheless tried to prove her point.  She was a delight to watch.

    The play now took off from there.  From one stage to another, they were made to dance, sing and mime.  Onah and his other colleagues stood in front of them to lead them on.  “They can’t remember easily”, Onah said.  ‘So, what we do is to stand in their front and dance.  They then follow all our movements.  It is only then you can get them to perform their best’, he said in an interview.

    As they danced, those who could not stand, swung around in their wheel chairs.  Once the microphone was handed over to one of the boys, he began to rap, swinging from one end of the stage to the other.  Full of energy and vibe, he sang almost incoherently while his colleagues played away on the drums and other instruments.  This performance so thrilled the audience, that some even stood up to acknowledge the boy and urged him on.

    Adorned in white tops and black trousers, they were good to watch.  The costumes helped to accentuate their artistic beauty and excellence.  There was no one in the audience who was not touched, almost moved to joyous tears.  Those of them who were not audible at all, constantly clapped their hands, shaking their heads to the movements on stage.  They clapped vigorously, smiling and urging others to join in the joy of the moment.  The choreography and the uniformity of their movements were too wonderful to decode.  Not even some able-bodied artistes could get it better, for choreography is one of the most difficult aspects of the theatre.

    But they synchronized while the movements went on.  The rapper named Daniel stole the show.  He was everywhere and his sister is named Daniella.  Both of them showed extra-ordinary artistic dexterity.  It indeed proved that there is ability on disability.  Part of what impressed everyone the most was how they handled the instruments on stage.  After an interlude, they returned back to the stage to showcase some of their other talents.  Some have been taught how to bake; how to make tie and dye adire.  Some of them were made into T-Shirts and sold to the audience.  The British Council that spear-headed the festival said it was a moment to cherish, time indeed to discover talents and promote those that needed to be promoted.  No child should be denied the opportunity to aspire to be great or attain a great height in life.  That is why it is imperative to offer them that rare opportunity to demonstrate what they are capable of doing.

    In an interview, Uche Onah who runs the Nigeria Premire Disability Theatre Company, said it is meant to develop their talents.  “It is a children development centre, located in Surulere, Lagos.  Yes, I work with special children, school children.  That’s why it is called a developmental centre. We have those with Down syndrome, we have autism and so on.  But what I did today is to showcase their total ability in disability.  We can learn one or two things from them to show that there is no total disability if you can handle them well.  They have inner ability in them.  You could see that on stage while they performed”, Onah explained.

    To see them through, all you do is to guide and guard them.  Onah further explained: “That’s exactly what it is.  It is for them to show those inner abilities in them.  Some of them cannot even talk but they can dance, they can jump, they can play the gong or the drum.  It is only when you guide them over time that you’d discover these hidden talents.  That’s what we do at the centre.  It is good therefore to help them develop what is innate in them in order to make them happy.

    Onah has been on this assignment for ten years, pushing on ahead to ensure that more children in these categories are offered the best by the society.  He said: “I spend an hour with them twice a week.  The children are brought from special schools around Surulere, Lagos.  It is our duty then to take them through most of the exercises, put them in the proper frame of mind to get the lesson correctly.  It is not really far from what they are taught in class, so that they wouldn’t need to begin anew.  It helps us to know how to manage their thinking, how to help them focus on those things they have.  We don’t have sponsors yet.  We only use the meager resources we can gather from here and there to run the centre and help the children”.

    Onah is a dancer, choreographer and stage artiste.  This is why it is easier for him to handle the kids.  “I am a member of Dance Guild of Nigeria.  And what I teach them is professionally sound.  It is not copied or artificial.  It is the real thing and these wonderful children key in as soon as you let them into it.  What we do now is the best we can offer them”, he said.

    Other shows also took place at the festival.  One of the most outstanding was Dear Mama.  It is a play that eulogized the inherent beauty in a woman.  Handled by ten young ladies on stage with a lead character they made it clear that the place of a mother in the world can never be over-emphasized.  Dear Mama thrilled as the ladies danced joyous dances, telling the people how it is to have a pregnancy for 9 months, deliver the child and the celebrations begin.

    But how much does the society try to tolerate and appreciate what the women do to continue with procreation?  What role does the society also play to encourage people to have plenty of values for their mamas?  On stage, the ladies demonstrated this to the full, swinging to and fro in form of dance and songs.  It was not just hilarious, it was equally instructive to see how the young artistes mastered the sentiments of motherhood.

    With about 600 performing artistes in place, coupled with over 100 performances, the Lagos Theatre Festival has come to symbolize peace, love and togetherness for Nigerian artists.  In its 6th edition, the idea according to the British Council, is to prosper arts.  It is to extend the popularity of theatre beyond gimmicks.  This is why Nigerian artists, promoters, producers and playwrights are encouraged to do their things by themselves.  It is now totally Nigerian in outlook, in content and in its presentation.  S0, the thrill is endless.

    It happens this time of the year except that it was postponed severally due to the elections.  You needed to be there to witness the deep contents of Nigerian stories, handled by Nigerian artists and those who intend to be the best in no distant time.  It was a moment when artists sat down together to discuss; exchange ideas on how to better the lot of the sector.  Yet with over 200 viewing centres scattered here and there, Lagos Theatre Festival is now ranked among the best twenty of its kind world-over.  It is the foremost in West Africa and will soon overtake more across Africa.

    The shows lasted for 5 days, offering artists opportunities to showcase their talents, make money and reach out to the larger world.  Those who still have fresh ideas to take to the stage have been asked to keep them afresh for the next edition.  It is open to all the people who have things to say or present on stage

     

  • Disabilities, no longer barrier to learning, educationists insist

    Stakeholders in the education sector in Lagos recently gathered at the instance of the Action Aid and Human Development Initiative (HDI) to further the course of inclusive education. Daniel Adeleye reports.

    IT was half past nine in the morning on a Wednesday, the first day of a two-day workshop on Capacity Building Training for teachers in Lagos State on inclusive education, facilitated by Action Aid Nigeria in collaboration with Human Development Initiatives (HDI) Nigeria.

    The usual jokes and banters of teachers dominated the very chilled hall of the Iwaya road office of HDI Nigeria, venue of the workshop.

    Addressing the gathering, the Director of Child Guidance School Counselling and Special Education, Lagos State Ministry of Education, Mrs Musa Ketim, stated that there is no superior teaching technique anywhere in the world to teach special need children, but the situation on ground usually dictates the suitable technique.

    Speaking on the theme, techniques of Teaching Special Need Children in an Inclusive School, Ketim hinted that Lagos State has a policy on inclusive education which is meant to address the educational needs of all children and adults in special need.

    She said the Lagos State government recognises that not all special children can get to university level because they have various capacities and has thus created vocations in all special schools across the state where tools and equipment for tailoring, shoe making, catering amongst others are given to them.

    She declared that apart from governments making learning environments physically accessible to students using wheelchairs, walkers and assistive technology devices; curriculum should be also modified and adapted to meet the needs and limitations of a diverse group of children with special needs.

    The seasoned educationist, who cited infrastructural development, shortage of personnel, high ratio of teachers as well as inadequate instructional materials as factors hindering the inclusive education in Nigeria, also took a swipe at parents for mounting barriers against children with disabilities.

    Ketim called for private collaboration with the government to build inclusive education across the country.

    “The essence of inclusive education is making education more accessible to all children of school age, irrespective of their social economic status, disability, race and cultural background. It has been our agenda in Lagos State since 2007.”

    “The importance of inclusiveness is the physical location of the pupil in the school environment and classroom. The environment that is the inclusive setting must be conducive and enabling to enhance their learning and accommodate their needs.”

    He said, “If you get to our inclusive schools, we have ramps everywhere. So those on wheelchairs can move freely, those that use crushes can move freely and so also those that are visually impair will be able to move,” she stressed.

    Also speaking at the workshop, a consultant to Action Aid and lecturer at Usman Uthman Danfodio University, Sokoto, Dr. Aisha Abdulahi Ibrahim, stressed that for students to successfully learn in general education environment, adequate funding by the governments has to be in place to hire support specialists and secure resources for teachers and students.

    The don, who started her speech by using a game of life to illustrate the barriers that create commanding gaps among children who are initially equal at birth, said the design and management of primary and secondary schools in Nigeria are non-inclusive and inaccessible to children with disabilities even when education is a basic need and right for every child.

  • Promasidor supports families of children with disabilities

    Promasidor Nigeria Limited, a leading food company, has provided succour to more than 60 parents of children with disabilities through its low-interest microcredit scheme – “We Too Can Grow.”

    The scheme is in advancement of its corporate social responsibility (CSR) policy. Done in partnership with Children’s Developmental Centre (CDC), which supports children and young adults with disabilities, the scheme has benefitted five cooperative groups to which the families belong, with three more to receive their grants.

    Promasidor said it initiated the scheme to provide funds to cooperative groups in Lagos and Ogun states through CDC. It is facilitated by Surbpolitan Microfinance Bank.

    Commenting on the support from Promasidor at a ceremony held for the cooperatives at the CDC in Lagos, the Project Director, Delphine Misan-Arenyeka, said the company had shown that it cares for children and young adults with disabilities. She said a lot of progress has been made and that other groups would also get the funds after undergoing training with the Community Development Foundation (CDF), which is in charge of capacity building, in partnership with CDC.

    The trainings are for proper organisational development, which involves conflict management, credit and financial management and entrepreneurship.

    Misan-Arenyeka added that four of the five cooperatives that benefitted from the scheme were in Lagos, while one was in Abeokuta, Ogun State. They included Excellent Cooperative, Success Cooperative, Affectionate Cooperative, CDC/Parents and Atunda-Olu.

    She commended Promasidor for the scheme, adding that the company has demonstrated that it cares for the less privileged. “We Too Can Grow also includes provision of Promasidor’s products to CDC, which are sold to support the children through funds disbursed to parents,” she said.

    Dr. Olayinka Akindayemi, CDC service director, advised the benefitting parents to take adequate care of their children and make judicious use of funds provided to them. She said there are plans to extend the scheme to other cooperative groups for the wellbeing of children with special needs.

    Promasidor Corporate Communications Coordinator Isiaka Lawal said the scheme was a way of saying children with special needs should not be discriminated against in the society.

    “We Too Can Grow is a way of saying that we recognise that children with special needs are members of the society. They have the right to pursue their dreams like other members of the society do,” he said

     

    At the ceremony, Akinyemi Akintola, executive director of CDF, stated that apart from the two-day training, which was held in languages the groups understand, its organisation’s role is also to monitor and ensure that loans are used properly by the cooperatives and paid on time for others to benefit. He said CDF is involved in the partnership with CDC in order to bring to use its expertise for development in areas where the centre does not have and then continue from there. On the impact of the trainings and the loans received, the Chairman, Affectionate Cooperative Group, Cornelius Akintola Kasunmu, said the fund was well disbursed among the 22 members of the cooperative, adding that the training at CDF was quite useful as it has helped him to grow his business and also in attending to issues relating to his child’s wellbeing.

     

    Another member of the group, Ganiyat Falade explained that the training by CDF has broadened her knowledge on how to manage funds for investment purposes. “Now, l can adequately take records of sales and products l invest in. The training has been very useful,” she said.

     

     

  • Expert seeks support for people living with disabilities 

    Hope for Now International President Dr. Iwebuike Nwaesei has urged the Federal Government to provide incentives for business owners to employ persons with disabilities.

    Nwaesei said this on the sidelines of a seminar and workshop for stakeholders and care givers on Persons Living with Disabilities (PLWDs) organised by Hope for Now  International at the Igando, Lagos.

    The event was attended by care givers, environmentalists, development experts, and volunteers, which featured distribution of free food items, clothing, shoes and other household items to beggars at Igando, Lagos.

    He said Nigeria has 25 million persons with one form of disability or the other and that this huge population could yield huge dividends, if efforts were put in place to engage them in activities that are profitable and productive.

    Nwaesei commended President Muhammadu Buhari for signing the Discrimination Against Persons with  disabilities  (Prohibition) Act, 2018 into law, saying the law will bring relief to PLWDs.

    He said providing employment opportunities for PLWDs, increasing their access to education and positive attitude toward PLWDs was germane, and that it should be given priority.

    He noted that the government could work with private sector players by giving them tax holidays and support system so that they could accommodate a certain percentage number of PLWDs in their work place.

    Nwaesei stressed that there were many skilled and educated PLWDs, who have the capacity and competence to make a difference within their profession but are faced with all forms of discrimination.

    “The government can equally encourage business owners to employ PLWDs and their salary will be shared between the government and the private sector players and that will make it convenience for the business owners to accommodate as many PLWDs as possible,” he said.

    He added: “I am sympathetic to the plight of PLWDs in our society as they are faced with age-long cultural superstition that they are the cause of their disabilities. They are marginalised, alienated, thus, its requires the state institution to address this trend and help them lead a better life.”

    He cited the United States Disability Act  promulgated in 1973, saying its outlawed discrimination of PLWDs in employment in public and private organisations, noting that we must make our law work for PLWDS and integrate them into the core society.

     

  • Project Enable Africa empowers persons with disabilities

    Twenty persons living with various disabilities were last Thursday empowered after undergoing series of training on Information and Communication Technologies (ICT).

    They were inducted as fellows of the Project Tenable programme during an event to commemorate the United Nations International Day of persons with disabilities.

    Founder and Project Director of Project Enable Africa Olusola Owonikoko explained the scheme was to promote access of persons with disabilities to ICT skills and opportunities.

    Speaking on the theme empowering persons with disabilities and ensuring inclusiveness and equality in ICT, he said technology was crucial to bridging the gaps curtailing abilities of persons with disabilities.

    He added offering ICT inclusiveness will allow them function well in the society.

    “Our disability-friendly Digital Hubs are a free, safe space for persons with disabilities to access information and inclusive training, collaborate, and create solutions that will improve their lives.

    “The project gives visibility to productivity, rather than disability, allowing persons with disabilities to enhance their social, cultural, and economic integration in communities,” he said.

    Access Bank’s Head of Sustainability Omobolanle Victor-Laniyan emphasised the importance of the full and equal participation of persons with disabilities in all spheres of society.

    She said Access Bank was pleased to be associated with Project Tenable’s work to remove the barrier against persons with disabilities by providing them with equal opportunities and inclusiveness.

     

  • Lawyers with disabilities advocate inclusive Bar

    The Association of Lawyers with Disabilities in Nigeria (ALDIN) has urged the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) to address issues that limit their opportunities in the profession.

    The group regretted that its members have not been carried along in most NBA’s key activities.

    ALDIN wants its members to be represented in NBA conference planning committees.

    It called for an amendment of the NBA constitution to get Lawyers with Disabilities (LWDs) more involved in running the association’s affairs.

    In a letter to NBA President Paul Usoro (SAN), ALDIN President Mr Daniel Onwe and General Secretary Mr Gaius Ogan noted that physically challenged lawyers have found it difficult to survive.

    ALDIN is the umbrella association for all categories of Nigerian LWDs at home and abroad.

    It was established to promote social justice and foster the development of persons with disabilities generally.

    ALDIN aims at addressing the plaintive issues in the Nigerian society that stymie the development and progress of persons with disabilities.

    It does this through advocacy and pragmatic actions leveraging on the expertise of their members as legal practitioners.

    ALDIN said it was concerned about a number of issues affecting LWDs and earnestly hope that Usoro’s leadership would address them.

    “These concerns had in no small way stultified the capacities – and narrowed opportunities – of LWDs in the legal profession and in life generally,” the group said.

    Inaccessible court rooms, public buildings

    ALDIN  said lawyers with disabilities have been systematically shut out from the practice of their chosen profession.

    “Their access to the temple of justice – where they are ministers – is being denied by way of architectural barriers of diverse forms. Those on wheelchair would either crawl on all floors to courtrooms upstairs or be hauled.

    “Those on crutches will have to wobble upstairs with excruciating pains. The blind are left in the woods without accessible working materials. The lot of the deaf is in no way any better. Their livelihoods are thus precarious.

    “The NBA can add voice to ours to ensure that courts and other public buildings are accessible to all,” the group said.

    Employment of LWDs

    ALDIN said some LWDs are not disposed to the private practice of law, especially because of the architectural barriers that hamper their access to courtrooms and other public buildings.

    “Their employment in the private and public sector is, therefore, necessary.

    “The NBA can assist our members in securing sedentary jobs in the public and private sectors by recommending our members where such vacancies occur.

    “We also look forward to the employment of our members by the NBA also,” the group said.

    NBA ‘desks’ on disability issues

    The association called for the establishment of disability desks at NBA headquarters and branches.

    “LWDs are not considered in the allocation of the opportunities that exist in the NBA and the legal profession at large.

    “Issues affecting LWDs are relegated to the background either because of negligence or lack of adequate understanding of disability issues.

    “We recommend that NBA establish a ‘desk’ to be occupied by a Lawyer With Disability (LWD) – who will be recommended by ALDIN.

    “The occupier of the ‘desk’ will be a liaison officer of sorts who will bring to the fore issues that affect LWDs. We recommend that this be replicated at the various branches of the NBA.

    “It will help in no small way to address our concerns and enhance inclusivity at the Bar,” ALDIN said.

    Conference planning

    ALDIN described as enormous the difficulties LWDs face at the NBA annual general conferences, some of which could have been avoided if such lawyers were carried along in the planning process.

    The group said: “Virtually nothing about the concerns we have as LWDs are considered in the planning of the conferences.

    “We recommend that an LWD – who will be recommended by ALDIN – be a member of the Technical Committee on Conference Planning (TCCP) so that the sensitivities of LWDs will be factored at the planning stage.”

    Inclusion in NBA affairs

    ALDIN called for a deliberate policy to include LWDs in the running of NBA affairs through constitution amendment.

    “Mr. President, in our yearnings for an inclusive Bar, we acknowledge the efforts made by the immediate past administration of the NBA in ensuring that LWDs have some sense of belonging.

    “The NBA headquarters was structurally adjusted to allow for access of LWDs and some lawyers with disabilities were sponsored to the NBA Annual Conferences in 2017 and 2018.

    “It is our plea that this progress  be sustained whilst we look forward to more success stories.

    “Mr. President, your manifesto emboldens us to look forward for a more inclusive Bar under your leadership,” the group said.

    ALDIN reminded Usoro of his promise in his manifesto, which reads: “Another category of lawyers whose welfare I will work towards ameliorating, from a professional standpoint, is that of the aged and disabled lawyers.

    “If I am elected as the NBA President, I will work towards achieving better welfare programmes for these categories of lawyers and generally for all lawyers …

    “Persons living with disability and the aged have special needs which unfortunately are not generally catered for in our Nigerian environment.

    “These needs include access facilities into buildings, toilet facilities, specialised reading and legal practice materials and aids, customised technology aids and facilities.

    “My administration as the NBA President will work at installing these facilities at the NBA Secretariat where the model   law office would be located.

    “The model law office at the national secretariat would also be made friendly to and usable by agreed persons and persons living with disability.

    “These facilities would gradually be expanded and provided at the NBA  Zonal Offices in the  three  zones of the NBA.

    “We would also open dialogue with the Chief Justice of the Federation and the heads of various courts in the federation and the states on the required modifications for making the courts and the court facilities accessible to and usable by the aged and persons living with disability.

    “More importantly, we shall dialogue constantly with these categories of lawyers to continually understand their needs and how best we can assist in meeting them.”

    ALDIN urged Usoro to fulfill his campaign promises.

    “Mr. President, we are looking forward to working with you as partners in progress to achieve the objects of your manifesto especially as it relates to LWDs,” it added.

  • Nigeria has 19m persons with disabilities, says NPC

    There are no fewer than 19 million persons living with disabilities in Nigeria, the National Population Commission of Nigeria (NPC) has declared.

    Its chairman Mr Eze Duruiheoma (SAN) announced this during the 73rd UN General Assembly General Discussion of Agenda 28 on Social Development at the UN headquarters in New York.

    The World Bank estimates one billion people or 15 per cent of the world’s population, experience some form of disabilities and the prevalence is higher for developing countries.

    The population chief said Nigeria had existing policy that reserved certain percentage of vacancies for the disabled, adding the corporate organisations were also encouraged to reserve two per cent for the disabled population.

    “As a result, government is implementing measures to promote and enhance the entrepreneurial skills of many of our 19 million Persons with Disabilities (PWDs).

    “This is executed through training in various vocations and provision of relevant tools to enable them to embark on economic ventures of their choice.

    “Furthermore, corporate organisations in Nigeria are encouraged to reserve two per cent of their vacancies to PWDs in support of the existing policy in the public sector.”

    He said Nigeria recognised the importance of implementing policies that bridge social inequality gap through poverty eradication, social integration, full employment and decent work that target especially the disability population.