The Nation Newspaper

Tag: physically challenged

  • Physically-challenged donates N120,000 for Makinde’s defend at tribunal

    A physically-challenged in Ibadan,  Oyo State and convener of “Disables for Oyo Progress”, Wasiu Nurudeen, has donated N120,000 in support of the legal representation for the  Governor-elect, Mr. Seyi Makinde, at Election Petitions Tribunal.

    Makinde, who was the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) governorship candidate, was declared  winner of the keenly contested election after polling 515,621 votes to defeat Adelabu, who had 357,982.

    Nurudeen, a graduate of The Polytechnic, Ibadan and an athlete in the employment of the state, told reporters at Lekan Salami Stadium, Adamasingba, Ibadan, that he was doing it in recognition of Makinde’s philanthropic gesture to the vulnerable over the years.

    Read also: Oyo PDP accuses Ajimobi of laying ‘economic landmine for Makinde’

    He said it was obvious that the mandate given to Makinde at the last governorship election was the true wish of the people.

    According to him, he took the decision to defend the votes of the people, especially the physically-challenged, who despite their challenges, went out en-masse to vote for the PDP candidate.

    “To prove my support for the governor-elect in our dear state, I have donated N120,000 to support our governor. The only thing we are expecting from the governor-elect is good governance. Every group, organisation, individual and the traditional institution should feel the presence of government in the state,” he said.

  • Lawmaker reiterates commitment to constituency, empowers physically challenged

    A House of Representatives member for Owo/Ose federal constituency, Dr Bode Ayorinde, has maintained that his concern is for the betterment of the people in the area. The lawmaker said whether in office or outside, his constituents would continue to benefit from his little resources, particularly the physically-challenged.

    Ayorinde said even though he lost his bid to return to the lower chamber of the national assembly for second term through alleged manipulation, he considered it very imperative to assist a vital section in his constituency. He distributed various empowerment facilities worth millions of naira.

    The legal practitioner said life continued after stressing that he would not challenge the outcome of the election at the tribunal. According to him, he must continue to do good for those people who voted for him to represent them at the national assembly since 2015.

    Ayorinde said: “There is the need for us after the election to go ahead and execute our zonal intervention projects. We renovated schools, we installed transformers in some communities and did some other projects for my people.”

    The founder of Achievers University, Owo, said, he would continue to touch the lives of the people in the constituency and beyond within his limited resources. The PDP chieftain said the empowerment programme was the first phase, noting that there are 400 physically disabled persons to benefit from the programme.

    According to him, the distribution will be in four batches to the beneficiaries as part of the dividends of democracy to his constituents. Some of the items distributed include wheel chairs, grinding and sewing machines and cash of N10,000 to each of the beneficiaries.

    Many beneficiaries hailed Ayorinde for his magnanimity, stressing that the empowerment scheme would relieve them of the economic hardship they are confronted with. They noted that the lawmaker had done a lot for the people in Owo/Ose federal constituency, which deserved commendation.

  • ‘Discrimination against physically challenged kills faster’

    Victoria Emezue, a student of Vocational Training Centre for the blind, Oshodi has said that discrimination against physically challenged persons killed faster than the disability.

    Emezue told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on the sidelines of the 24th annual inter-house sports of the school at Yaba College of Technology on Thursday that she got depressed after losing her friends.

    She said all her friends deserted her when she got blind in 2014 and that got her depressed more than her predicament.

    “I lost all my friends when I became blind, I was in secondary school when I discover my eye condition in 2013 and became blind in 2014.

    READ ALSO: Ending discrimination against the physically challenged

    “You know being a friend to all is good but when they saw that I cannot see anymore and do things like them, they pulled away, it was only one girl that stood by me and she is still close.

    “Joining the Vocational Training Centre has been great for me, I have learnt so many things like how to walk alone, read and write.

    “I am now free unlike before when I was depressed, I was always isolating myself but now, there is no one that can pull me down because I am blind,’’ she said.

    Emezue, who was the captain of Red House at the inter-house sports, said that she felt fulfilled participating in three events like bowling, rounders game and march past.

    “It felt great to participate in sport, I just wanted to catch fun and I enjoyed myself,’’ she said.

    Emezue appealed to the physically challenged in the society not to let anyone pull them down, saying that it was only a dead mind that could not move on in life.

    “Don’t look down on yourself, always believe that there is something that you can do, there is an ability even in that disability and be determined that you can make it in life,’’ she said.

    NAN

  • Lagos and the physically challenged

    Sir: It is quite pleasant to note that that the Lagos State government is constantly stepping up on its care and support for the physically challenged in the state. Recently, the state government doled out entrepreneur empowerment fund and assorted assistive devices to people living with disability.  No fewer than one thousand physically challenged benefitted from the exercise while numerous others were provided with assistive devices.

    Additionally, various bodies such as Joint Association of Persons Living with Disabilities, National Association of Persons with Physical Disability (Lagos Chapter), Lagos State Association of the Deaf, National Association of the Blind, Association of Parents of Children Living with Intellectual Disability, Spinal Cord Injuries Association of Nigeria (NSCIAN), Lagos Chapter, The Dwarf Association of Nigeria, Lagos State Chapter and Lagos State Albinism Society received financial grants ranging from two million naira (N2,000,000) to five hundred  thousand (N500,000).

    It will be recalled that, in order to passionately and holistically address the plight of the physically challenged in the society, the Lagos State Special People’s Law was passed in June 2011. The law seeks to uphold the rights of all persons living with any form of disability in Lagos State by safeguarding them against all forms of discrimination and giving them equal rights and opportunities. The passage of the law gave birth to the establishment of Lagos State Office for Disability Affairs (LASODA). The first governing board was inaugurated on 9th July, 2012 and charged with implementing the law.

    The law compels employers of up to 100 personnel to reserve at least one percent of the workforce for persons with disabilities. Also, it has become a crime in the state to discriminate against any person with disability because of physical challenge. The state also provides rights of children with disability; right to education; right to healthcare services; right to freedom of communication; right to public transport; right to drive and reservation at parking lots.

    Other rights include provision of facilities at public buildings; right to legal aid; rights of tenants with disability; public functions; rights under emergency situations; right to first consideration in queues; right to 5% of accommodation reservation consideration and rights to social security among others.

    While commending the Lagos State government for its concerted efforts at transforming the lives of the physically challenged in the state, it is important to emphasize that as a nation and a people and for obvious reason, we need to impact more meaningfully on the lives of these special people. We need to take a cue from what a nation like America has achieved with its Americans with Disabilities Act, ADA. Thanks to the Act, transportation, public facilities and many services in the United States are more accessible to the physically challenged in the country.

    With ADA, many city buses and trains have lifts or ramps for wheelchairs, priority seating signs, handrails, slip-resistant flooring, and information stamped in Braille. Emergency call centers are equipped with telecommunications devices for the deaf (TDDs), and federally funded public service announcements have closed captioning. Most importantly, ADA prohibits discrimination against people with disabilities in job recruitment, hiring, promotions, training or pay. ADA’s provisions have enabled many people to live independently, despite any physical or mental disability, and have helped protect their rights.

    For us in Nigeria, the overall emphasis should be on more inclusion of the physically challenged within the larger society. We need to make them have a sense of wider acceptance in the society by supporting them as much as we could. We need to treat them as our fellow compatriots. It is only in doing this that we can make them walk through life with a smile and renewed hope.

     

    • Tayo Ogunbiyi,

    Ministry of Information and Strategy, Alausa, Ikeja, Lagos.

  • Lagos’ new plans for the physically challenged

    In Nigeria, condition of the physically challenged attracts little or no attention. As a result of this, their rights are often violated, excluded and relegated in planning and national development. Without a doubt, physically challenged folks need care, love, protection and special infrastructural provisions to survive in a challenging environment like ours. Unfortunately, in Nigeria they are largely unprotected and exposed to abuse, discrimination, ignored, stigmatized and exploited by families and society. In most cases, family members see them as shameful creatures. Consequently, most of them often resign to a life of despondency.

    It is, however, quite pleasant to note that the Lagos State

    Government is constantly stepping up on its care and support for the physically challenged in the state. Recently, the state government doled out Entrepreneur Empowerment Fund and assorted assistive devices to people living with disability.  At the event, which took place at the LTV Blue Roof, Agidingbi, Ikeja, no fewer than one thousand physically challenged benefitted from the exercise while numerous others were provided with assistive devices.

    Additionally, various bodies such as Joint Association of Persons

    Living with Disabilities, National Association of Persons with

    Physical Disability (Lagos Chapter), Lagos State Association of the Deaf, National Association of the Blind, Association of Parents of Children Living with Intellectual Disability, Spinal Cord Injuries Association of Nigeria (NSCIAN), Lagos Chapter, The Dwarf Association of Nigeria, Lagos State Chapter and Lagos State Albinism Society received financial grants ranging from two million naira (N2, 000, 000) to five hundred thousand (N500,000).

    The latest effort of the state government is an integral part of its strategic plans to provide the much needed support and enabling environment for the physically challenged in the state. It would be recalled that, in order to passionately and holistically address the plight of the physically challenged in the society, the Lagos State Special People’s Law was passed in June 2011. The Law seeks to uphold the rights of all persons living with any form of disability in Lagos State by safeguarding them against all forms of discrimination and giving them equal rights and opportunities.

    Equally, the passage of the law gave birth to the establishment of The Lagos State Office for Disability Affairs (LASODA). The first governing board was inaugurated on 9th July, 2012 and charged with implementing the law.

    Since the inception of LASODA, the agency has been protecting the rights and privileges of persons with disabilities which include implementing the State’s Special People’s Law which compels employers of up to 100 personnel to reserve at least one percent of the workforce for persons with disabilities. Also, it has become a crime in the state to discriminate against any person with disability because of his physical challenge. The state also provides rights of children with disability; right to education; right to healthcare services; right to freedom of communication; right to public transport; right to drive and reservation at parking lots.

    Other rights include provision of facilities at public buildings; right to legal aid; rights of tenants with disability; public functions; rights under emergency situations; right to first

    consideration in queues; right to 5% of accommodation reservation consideration and rights to social security among others.

    In order to effectively scale down the scope of its activities to the grassroots, the state government has decentralised LASODA and absolved 200 physically challenged persons to manage their affairs in all the Local Government Areas and Local Council Development Areas (LCDA) in the state.

    To further reinforce its commitment towards the physically challenged, Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) and LAGBUS operators have been mandated by the state government to offer them free ride across all routes in the state. This is to ensure that they don’t have to pass through several complicated hassles before boarding a bus to their respective routes.

    As part of the deal, most of the newly introduced BRT busses have essential facilities for the physically challenged.

    In order to further strengthen the new resolve of the state government to make life more pleasant to the physically challenged in the state, on 29th May, 2016; Governor Akinwunmi Ambode launched the N500million Disability Trust Fund. A major goal of the Fund is to aid people living with disabilities in the state realise their dreams and

    Maximize their potentials in order to live a more meaningful life.

    This is in realisation of the fact that lots of them possess requisite qualification, experience and character but are just outrightly being marginalized in the scheme of things.  The creation of the Fund reflects the state government’s interpretation of social environment and devotion to social responsibility as well as a major shift from charity as the mode of addressing disability. It should be stressed that the Fund is strictly meant for the provision of requisite infrastructure that would enhance welfare of the physically challenged.

    To further boost this renewed effort towards making life more

    meaningful for People Living with Disability, the state government has urged corporate organisations and well- meaning individuals to come up with fresh strategies that could reasonably enhance the standard of living of the physically challenged.

    While commending the Lagos State Government for its concerted efforts at transforming the lives of the physically challenged in the state, it is important to emphasise that as a nation and a people and for obvious reason, we need to impact more meaningfully on the lives of these special people. We need to take a cue from what a nation like America has achieved with its Americans with Disabilities Act, ADA.

    Thanks to the Act in USA, transportation, public facilities and many services in the United States are more accessible to the physically challenged in the country.

    With ADA, many city buses and trains have lifts or ramps for

    Wheelchairs, priority seating signs, handrails, slip-resistant

    flooring and information stamped in Braille. Emergency call centers are equipped with telecommunication devices for the deaf (TDDs), and federally funded public service announcements have closed captioning.

    Most importantly, ADA prohibits discrimination against people with disabilities in job recruitment, hiring, promotions, training or pay.

    ADA’s provisions have enabled many people to live independently, despite any physical or mental disability, and have helped protect their rights.

    Consequently, for us in Nigeria, the overall emphasis should be on more inclusion of the physically challenged within the larger society.

    We need to make them have a sense of wider acceptance in the society by supporting them as much as we could. We need to treat them as our fellow compatriots. It is only in doing this that we can make them walk through life with a smile and renewed hope.

     

    • Tayo Ogunbiyi is of the Lagos State Ministry of Information and Strategy,

    Alausa, Ikeja, Lagos

     

  • Physically-challenged rally for Buhari, Tinubu, others

    The Amalgamation of Physically-Challenged People in Lagos Mainland Local Government and Yaba Local Council Development Area of Lagos State yesterday staged a walk across major roads in the area.

    It was to sensitise residents to vote for the candidates of the All Progressives Congress (APC) for the House of Assembly, House of Representatives, Senate, governorship and presidential elections.

    The group comprising the hearing-impaired, visually-impaired, cripple, dumb, down syndrome and others with various deformities, well-wishers, party faithful and supporters trooped out to participate in the walk.

    They gathered at the APC secretariat on Borno Way, by Coates junction in Ebute-Meta, from where they moved with drum sets, singing and dancing through Herbert Macaulay Way, Adekunle, Alagomeji en route to Sabo.

    Read also: Lagos to conduct integrity test on hospitals, others

    The Chairman, Elders’ Forum of the People Living with Disabilities, Mr. Adisa Adeniyi, said it was important for people living with disabilities to appreciate members of APC, especially Senator Oluremi Tinubu and others for assisting them, adding: “This is payback time for us to express our gratitude to them.”

    The Coordinator, Movement for Disable Right Forum, Comrade Kehinde Oshilaja, hailed his members for trooping out for the rally.

    He said: “We are doing the walkthrough rally to express our support and solidarity to those contesting on the platform of APC in Lagos State, as well as President Muhammadu Buhari. We implore Lagosians to vote for our candidates, including the governorship candidate, Babajide Olushola Sanwo-Olu, Senator Oluremi Tinubu and President Muhammadu Buhari on Saturday and March 2.”

  • Physically challenged give at Xmas

    The physically-challenged under the aegis of Movement for Disability Rights, have distributed Christmas and New Year gifts to residents of Oyingbo and Ebute Metta in Lagos Mainland.

    They gave out rice, groundnut oil, semovita and provisions at the weekend.

    Their Coordinator, Comrade Kehinde Oshilaja, urged them to see themselves as givers and not beggars.

    He said: “We are concerned about the welfare of our neighbours despite the challenges we are facing. This is why we are distributing Yuletide gifts to the residents of Ebute-Meta and its environs.”

    The Chief Imam of Agoro Court, Oyingbo, Alhaji Sheu Tijani, urged politicians to emulate members of the group by showing concern for others.

    “Our politicians should copy what members of Movement for Disability Rights are doing in our midst by catering for the welfare of Nigerians. They should emulate their generosity,” he added.

    The Baale of Oko-Baba Agoro Court, Chief Musibau Amole, enjoined politicians to promote peace just as members of the group, to ensure successful elections in 2019.

    “They should make peace their watchword, especially now that we are approaching election period. A peaceful environment will ensure free and fair elections,” he said.

  • NGO, foundation empower physically-challenged

    A non-governmental organisation (NGO), the Movement for Disabled Right Forum, in conjunction with a United States of America-based health foundation, the Xanderena Foundation, has organised a one-day health talk on how people will change their perception towards people living with disabilities.

    Its Coordinator, Comrade Kehinde Oshilaja, speaking during the programme held at the weekend in Ebute-Metta, Lagos, said not everybody living with disabilities should be seen as beggars.

    Some of them resorted to begging because the government failed to assist them, he said.

    Oshilaja urged the government to create a special budget for the educated and serious ones among them.

    According to him, the government should assist the physically-challenged financially and morally.

    He said most of them are intelligent and can compete favourably with their counterparts who have no defects, if given the opportunity like able-bodied people.

    “We call on our rulers and politicians to assist us, because we deserve to be treated equally like able-bodied people. We are all Nigerians,” Oshilaja said

    The founder of the foundation, Irene Iwerebon, said free medications would be distributed at the event.

     

  • Special budget for physically-challenged advocated

    A group, the Movement for Disabled Rights, has advocated a special budget for the physically-challenged.

    The National Coordinator, Comrade Kehinde Oshilaja, said yesterday in Lagos during a peace rally to commemorate the World Peace Day that it was time the country prioritised the welfare of the physically-challenged.

    He said: “President Muhammadu Buhari should prioritise the welfare of the physically-challenged. A special budget should be made for them and it should be made mandatory for all tiers of government. This will make life easy for them.

    “We are all equal and born equally. If able-bodied people can commit suicide on a daily basis because of the difficulty in eking out a living, you can imagine the difficulty the physically-challenged go through to survive in these hard times.”

    Oshilaja hailed the leadership of All Progressives Congress (APC) for adopting direct primaries.

    He said the wisdom of the APC leadership to adopt direct primaries for the coming general election was commendable.

    Oshilaja said the method would enhance the worth of candidates and make them accountable to Nigerians, adding that it would enable the electorate to have a say in who would govern them.

    “The wisdom in the adoption of direct primary by President Buhari and the leadership of APC is commendable, especially considering its significance in deepening democratic practice. It will have effect on providing good governance and delivering the dividends of democracy,” he said.

  • LASU’s physically challenged students seek scholarship

    The physically challenged students of the Lagos State University (LASU) have appealed to the state government to give them full scholarship.

    Their representative, Miss Dorcas Yunana, made the appeal on behalf of others on the sidelines of the University’s second distinguished lecture series on Tuesday.

    The title of the lecture was: “Life Skills Education and Entrepreneurship Learning in the 21st Century.’’

    Yunana is a 100-level student in the Department of Political Science.

    She said the state government should be willing to grant full scholarships to persons living with disabilities and studying in any higher institutions of learning.

    “I on behalf of my colleagues, commend the state government for its policies in favour of people living with disabilities such as disability-friendly infrastructure and the provision of educational tools.

    “We are grateful. I, however, wish to say that more can still be done for us by the state government. It can give full scholarship covering all expenses to any person living with disability who is able to gain admission into the tertiary institutions.

    “Also, more needs to be done in the area of provision of educational tools for us,’’ she said.

    Yunana said the life of the physically challenged, particularly the visually impaired, was not an easy one and became more difficult when the environment was hostile to them.

    According to her, stigmatisation is one of their major problems.

    She listed others to include lack of recognition that persons living with disability deserved special facilities and attention.

    Yunana, however, said that the experience of the physically challenged at LASU was different.

    She commended the university management, staff and students for doing everything within their powers to make life easy for her colleagues.