The Nation Newspaper

Tag: physically challenged

  • ‘Support the physically-challenged’

    Wife of former Governor of Ondo State, Mrs. Olufunke Agagu, has urged government at all levels to prioritise the welfare of people living with disabilities.

    Mrs. Agagu spoke at this year’s International Day for Persons with Disabilities, whose theme was “Achieving 17 Goals for the Future We Want: Sustainable Development “, held in Akure, the Ondo State capital.

    She lamented that governments do much talking without acting on promises made to persons living with disability.

    Mrs. Agagu, who is the founder of Handicapped Education Foundation (HANDEF), also said despite several enlightenment programmes, the disabled are not seen as part of the society.

    She noted that in the history of Nigeria, none of the disabled persons has vied for elective positions.

    She said: “We are also disabled in one way or the other, but theirs are just physical and we should help to give them recognition and enablement.

    “We talk much in Nigeria without any action.  What is the attitude of commercial vehicles to the disabled people? Have we accepted them as part of us?

    “It is time society moved away from violence against them and focused attention on the welfare of people living with disabilities in our communities.”

    She, however, urged the people living with disabilities not to see their challenges as the end of their lives but as an opportunity to discover themselves.

    Mrs. Agagu urged the physically-challenged persons to discover and develop themselves so that people around them will not be looking down on them any longer.

    “Stop looking down on yourselves so that you can become somebody in life. Parents should encourage them by giving them the necessary support so that they can develop their innate abilities.

    “We will introduce more vocational trainings for people living with disabilities in the HANDEF Centre here in Akure.  Anybody who wants to learn skills such as traditional hairdressing, shoe making, barbing and so on, should take advantage of the programmes.

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

  • Foundation trains 180 physically-challenged in skills

    Foundation trains 180 physically-challenged in skills

    No fewer than 180 disabled people have passed out of the Bina Foundation for People with Special Needs. The foundation, which was founded by Lady Ifeoma Atuegwu, is a non-profit making and charitable organisation which  alleviates the pains and sufferings of the poor and needy and improve the lives of people with special needs.

    Present at  the annual graduation ceremony were the Minister of Labour and Employment, Dr. Chris Ngige, former Information Minister, Chief Nnia John Nwodo (Jnr) , Archbishop of the Anglican Communion, Enugu, Dr. Emmanuel Chukwuma and Mrs Betty Akeredolu, the wife of Ondo State Governor-elect.

    The Bina Foundation provided training for the 180 physically-challenged students and indigent widows in computer literacy, catering/fast food, bead making/wire works, tailoring/fashion designing, cosmetology, paint making and hairdressing.

    Others skills they learnt included barbing, shoe and bag making, GSM phone repair, TV and radio repair and musical band.

    The founder and president of Bina Foundation, Lady Atuegwu said: “None of these graduating students will go home empty handed. The foundation will provide resources to assist them in their next phase of life. We will provide all necessary equipment, including sewing machines, gas cookers, hair dryers, barbing salon, beads, GSM phone and TV and radio repairs equipment, among others.

    “We will also disburse start-out cash where possible to enable them to start their own businesses and hopefully become employers of labour.”

    The Bina Foundation fulfilled its promises as all the graduating students received their various equipment and cash where appropriate. Many of the equipment were sourced from donors, the Ministry of Labour and Employment and the National Directorate of Employment (NDE).

    To this end, Lady Atuegwu said: “The presence of His Excellency, Senator Chris Ngige, the Minister of Labour and Employment in Bina Foundation has always given our students a re-assuring sense of belonging. We are happy you are present at this event. May God bless you for your love for the needy and the partnership of the foundation with your ministry.”

    Lady Atuegwu further acknowledged “all the friends of Bina Foundation and all the corporate organisations that had, in one way or the other, supported us. May God bless you all as you continue to give to the less-privileged.

    She congratulated the graduating students on their will power, steadfastness and decision to reject begging, self-pity, laziness in order to acquire skills that will help them in life. She also announced that the foundation would also celebrate the “Widows’ Day of Joy” for the indigent widows in the society with the distribution of Christmas gifts which will include wrappers and rice, among other items to enable them to celebrate Christmas with joy.

    Lady Atuegwu also revealed that the Bina Foundation was able to employ some ex-students of the skills acquisition centre after graduation, adding, “likewise Michelle Laboratories Limited (owned by her husband, Sir  Atuegwu) the major sponsor of Bina Foundation also offers employment to some of our students after graduation.”

    She appealed to other employers of labour “to give employment opportunities to graduates of Bina Foundation in order to help integrate them into the economic activities of the society and give meaning to the new skills they have acquired.”

    The chairman of the occasion, Chief Nnia Nwodo praised the foundation for including widows in its programmes. However, he  passionately appealed to the foundation to include widowers in its programme, at least in the area of psychological assistance.

    “I am saying this because I am using myself as an example. Since I lost my wife about three years ago, I discovered that any house without a woman is not complete. Although I can comfortably provide all the needs of my children, that motherly vacuum needed to be taken care of.”

    He pleaded to the Bina Foundation to extend their visits to motherless homes and offer them psychological message as they still needed that motherly care.

    Nwodo praised Bina Foundation and the Atuegwu family for their selfless services and divine love for humanity.

    “This family is devoting scarce resources to take care of the needy. It is something to be encouraged,” Nwodo said.

  • Give us a chance, physically-challenged student writes

    For four years I have waited to make this request. So long it has been that it seems like an impossible quest now. Hence, I am on a special mission, not in a competition. I want your attention, not your ovation. I do hope to effect a change after this speech, but not by miracle. I will speak the truth like an oracle, because I have heard the voice of the neglected crying from the wilderness of isolation, with the depth of their pain piercing into the depths of the deepest oceans. After I fell from the staircase in my Hall of Residence and fainted, spent couple of days in Jaja and even missed my test, I felt it is time I asked the authorities of the University of Ibadan (UI) and the entire society to give us a chance.

    I have come to confront the society with the consequence of its silence; the silence that accompanies the notion that disability is inability. There exists a negative attitude and social taboo towards persons living with disability in many parts of the world, including Nigeria. This has hampered the physical and mental development of this special group of persons.

    According to EFA Global Monitoring Report in 2011, majority of the children with disability in Africa do not go to school at all. And of the 72 million primary school-aged children out of school worldwide, one-third of them have disability. Discrimination is as old as human society itself.

    For instance, in the days of old, some characters are consistently described with their disability so much that history eventually forgot their names. In the Bible, we read, ‘the woman with the issue of blood’, ‘the lame man at the pool of Bethsaida’ and ‘blind Bathemeus’. I cannot remember the number of times I have wondered if the surname of Mr. Bathemeus is actually the word “blind”.

    Unfortunately, the discrimination against these special persons survives in intellectual environments. On November 28, 2015, Premium Times, an online newspaper, reported the expulsion of Miss Jane Ottah from the Rivers State University of Science and Technology (RSUST), because she has speech defect and hearing impairment.

    Our very own University of Ibadan (the first and the best) is not totally left out of this business of insensitivity to the needs of the physically-challenged. The builders of our legendary Trenchard Hall never thought a student like me, sitting in a wheelchair, will ever have to give a speech tonight. Hence, there is no provision for a ramp for me to get to the stage.

    We have our entire textbooks beautifully printed in English, but we forget that we have blind students who need braille machines to read them. Worse still, the fact that the Department of Special Education sits comfortably on the second floor in the Faculty of Education causing great discomfort to the physically-challenged students in that faculty.

    I can only stay in my white and black as a law student to imagine the shame and pains these students go through everyday while their disability is being emphasised as they are carried like bag of rice to their classrooms.

    I am not here to point accusing fingers, neither am I saying that the university has done nothing. All I am saying is that, we can do more. There is always a room for more. We pretend to feel, understand and share the pains of physically challenged persons, but our actions speak the opposite because we don’t. I am not asking for preferential treatment or pity on behalf of special persons. No. All I am asking for is that, special facilities needed by special students should be provided so that we don’t feel like we are less human being.

    I was a little kid about four-six years old when one of my mother’s friends advised her never to take me back to school, because, according to her, sending a disabled boy to school is a waste of time and resources. But, my mum declined. That term, I failed woefully. I came 22nd out of 32 pupils in my class. But my mom looked me in the eye and told me: “You are an intelligent boy”. She died two years later when I was eight years old. She did something I will never forget; she gave me a chance and that’s why I am here today.

    Therefore, I have come to plead with the authorities to give us a chance. We have disability but we are not liability to this society. We are not a majority, but our interest is also a priority. We do not need your pity or sympathy, just show us a little more of empathy. We do not need a special consideration, just change your perception about our condition.

    When you give us a chance, you would have given us the opportunity to contribute to solving the problems of the society and not become a problem to be solved by the society.

     

    Adeyemi, 400-Level Law, UI

  • Physically-challenged back Agunloye

    Physically-challenged back Agunloye

    •SDP candidate begins house-to-house campaign

    Physically-challenged residents in Ondo State have declared their support for the governorship candidate of the Social Democratic Party (SDP), Dr Olu Agunloye.

    At a meeting in Ikare-Akoko, Akoko Northeast Local Government, their coordinator, Donatus Monday, said going by the track record of the former Minister of Defence, they have decided to give their votes to him.

    According to him, of the 28 candidates, the SDP candidate is the most trustworthy and God-fearing.

    Monday urged the governorship candidate to provide jobs for the physically challenged and offer them political appointments to reduce street begging.

    In another development, Agunloye and his running mate, Erelu Modupe Akindele Martins, went on a house-to-house rally at Ilutuntun in Okitipupa Local Government.

    Agunloye displayed his familiarity with the ancient town as he moved from house to house distributing hand bills and soliciting for votes.

    Addressing supporters, the SDP candidate said what the state got from the Federation Account in the last four years is more than what former Governor Olusegun Agagu received in six years.

    He promised to resuscitate and complete most of the projects Agagu started in Ikale land, such as hospitals, roads and provision of portable water.

    In her own contribution, Mrs. Martins said Governor Olusegun Mimiko deliberately tried to suppress Ikale kingdom.

    She appealed to the people to give Agunloye the opportunity to put things right by voting for him on November 26.

    Oba Williams Akinlade Akinmusayo, the Halujagbo of Aye, appealed to Agunloye to treat traditional rulers well by uplifting their standards and prompt payment of salaries.

    At Ikoya, Oba Jigbi Fagbile, the Abodi of Ikale, praised the SDP for appointing Mrs Martins as the Agunloye’s running mate.

  • 24 physically-challenged get wheelchairs

    24 physically-challenged get wheelchairs

    •Obiano, Red Cross hail gesture 

    The Red Cross Society of Nigeria (NRCS) and Anambra State Governor Willie Obiano yesterday gave 24 wheelchairs to the physically-challenged.

    The wheelchairs were donated by the Taiwanese government.

    Five wheelchairs were given to Abia State, five to Anambra State, five to Ebonyi State, four to Enugu State and five to Imo State.

    The physically-challenged gathered at the Red Cross Office in Anambra to collect their wheelchairs, distributed by Chairman of Southeast Red Cross Society Justice Paul Obidigwe (retd).

    Vice Chairman of the society in Anambra, Prof. Peter Katchy, hailed the Taiwanese government through its ambassador for the gesture.

    He said the donation would alleviate the vulnerabilities of the affected persons.

    Obidigwe said the gesture would ameliorate the conditions of the beneficiaries and assuage their despondency.

    NRCS National President Elder Bolaji Anani was represented by Chief Enyinnaya Orji.

    Some of the beneficiaries; Obinna Akwuogu, from Anambra, and Jane Ijeoma, from Imo, thanked the Red Cross and the Taiwanese government for remembering them.

    They said the physically challenged had problems, adding that they need to be remembered.

    Governor Obiano, represented by Dr. Okwuchukwu Chukwuka, permanent secretary, Ministry of Health, praised the Taiwanese government for the gesture.

    He said Anambra government would render assistance anytime it was called upon by the Red Cross and others.

  • Physically-challenged students decry descrimination

    Physically-challenged students decry descrimination

    Students living with disabilities at the Usmanu Danfodiyo University, Sokoto (UDUS) have discussed their challenges, calling on management to initiate programmes to end discrimination against them, reports SARAT ALABIDUN (400-Level Applied Chemistry).

    They were in the middle of their meeting in a classroom when the CAMPUSLIFE reporter walked in. Immediately, their  attention shifted to the ‘intruder’, who sat at a corner watching the proceeding.

    It was the second meeting of  physically-challenged students at the Usmanu Danfodiyo University, Sokoto (UDUS). The students, under the aegis of the National Association of Physically-Challenged Students (NAPCS), gathered to discuss their challenges.

    The NAPCS President, Abdullateef Adetiba, a 400-Level Sociology student, said: “A good constitution is a necessity for the association to be fully recognised on the campus.”

    Abdullateef, who was elected the previous week, urged members to come up with ideas on a new constitution. He said the document must reflect the aims and aspirations of the association and its members, adding that the constitution must be written to cater for the physically-challenged who would be offered admission in the new session.

    He added: “Our major concern is to join the forces to tackle discrimination against the physically-challenged students. We are human beings too. We need to have a fixed projects and programmes for the members. This must be done through our annual due to ensure that we don’t go about asking people for money.”

    Physically-challenged students, Abdullateef believes, have not been treated fairly by the university authorities. He hoped to change their situation, despite the short period of his tenure.

    He said: “I would continue to serve the association in any capacity. I am a proof that physically-challenged students can be successful in whatever field they find themselves. I have been on scholarship since my 200-Level.”

    After the meeting, some of the physically-challenged students shared their heart-rending stories, urging the school management to consider their plight.

    Tukur Isah, an Education English student, told the story of how he became physically-challenged. He said: “I had an accident on Makera Road when I was travelling back to Lagos. I broke my leg in the accident. I have accepted my fate, but I will never be a beggar.”

    Tukur urged people to stop discriminating against the physically-challenged, saying many of them could perform better in academics.

    Ibrahim Hamisu, a 400-Level Nigerian Languages student, said the physically-challenged should be blamed for the manner the society deals with them. He said many people with disabilities lack confidence and self-esteem, saying: “Just look at how this meeting is scanty; many of us don’t even want to attend.”

    Ibrahim said his greatest wish was to tackle discrimination against people living with disabilities. “Sometimes, when we get late to class, our lecturers won’t allow us into the classroom. They do not consider the fact that we get to class with much difficulty,” he said. He urged the school management to reduce fees for the physically-challenged to encourage them to study.

    For Umar Luqman, a Primary Education student with visual impairment, the way the physically-challenged students are being treated can discourage them to get education. He said: “We have to stay on the queue for several hours during registration with our colleagues. We have never enjoyed our stay in the hostels, because the facilities are made for people without disability.”

    For some of them, their conditions have motivated them to achieve their dreams. Ahmad Zubair, a 200-Level English Literature student, said his physical disability would not make him lose hope in his ability. He said: “I got my leg broken while playing soccer sometimes in the 2006. I was in hospital for two years. Being physically challenged, people think we cannot do anything. I am happy to say still engage in sport and my condition does not affect my studies. I believe I can achieve my dream despite my condition.”

    Bashir Muhammad, a 300-Level Agriculture student, could not stand for three years after he was born. He has a one-sided paralysis, but he believes he can work in in the farm. He said: “I can create an enterprise. I can be a farmer and I can still do things that normal people do in the farm.”

    The Dean, Students Affairs (DSA), Prof Adamu Aliero, debunked the claims that the school is not concerned about the physically-challenged students. He admitted that there are no facilities for them.

    The DSA said: “We have special rooms for the physically-challenged students in the hostels and whenever we notice such category of students, we give them special consideration. Disability is not inability.”

     

     

  • Physically challenged and Lagos’ inclusive governance

    SIR: At a political rally in January 2015, Lagos State Governor, Akinwunmi Ambode made a solemn pledge to stand by the physically challenged if elected as governor. True to his promise, he has sent out a positive signal that his government has a special place for the physically- challenged. At a recent event at the Lagos House, Ikeja, tagged ‘Ability in Disability’, he launched the N500million Disability Trust Fund for physically challenged persons in the state.

    The event, which afforded physically challenged persons the opportunity to showcase their talents, readily highlighted the saying that ‘there is ability in disability’. Governor Ambode used the occasion to enjoin Nigerians to encourage and show love rather on physically challenged persons.

    Without a doubt, the Lagos state government is fast adjusting to the needs of physically challenged persons in order to give them a sense of belonging. Governor Ambode is on record to have urged corporate organizations to collaborate with the state government in its efforts to make life more comfortable for People Living with Disabilities by fulfilling their own part of the obligation.  It is, perhaps, in keeping to his promise of standing by the physically-challenged, that the Ambode government has initiated Special People’s fund. The establishment of the people with disabilities fund was to create the right environment for them to live life more meaningfully. This is really an initiative capable of closing the structural nature of the wealth gap between those who are able bodied and people living with disabilities.

    Another show of care on the part of Governor Ambode is the order given to Bus Rapid Transit and LAGBUS operators on free ride for physically-challenged. In our clime, where it is difficult for the physically-challenged to get on and off a bus, the governor has directed that all physically-challenged should ride free, on all Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) and LAGBUS buses. Hitherto, they wait endlessly on the benevolence of good hearted compatriots to get into the bus. The newly introduced BRT busses have facility for the physically challenged.

    Equally, the Ambode administration has strengthened the Lagos State Office for Disability Affairs (LASODA) which was created “to safeguard people living with disability against all forms of discrimination. Through the Office, the governor recently awarded scholarships to 60 students of the School of the Blind, Oshodi.

    The Ambode’s example has, indeed, given hope to the physically challenged in the society. What people the physical challenged need is enabled environment and not discrimination. It is disheartening that in Nigeria, discrimination against physically challenged persons has been prevalent. Here, the reality of being physically-challenged affects not only the physicality of a person but also how others judge them culturally, spiritually, financially and emotionally.

    The point here is that we ought to learn 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 all. Thanks to ADA, for example, 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.

    At least, the law and the office created to implement it as well as special people fund established by the Lagos State government are stepping stones to achieving what exists in decent nations. Overall, emphasis should be on fuller “inclusion” within the community. It is imperative that we put in place a National Disability Rights Commission with innovative deal and commitment to enable and not disable people with deformity to attain their God-given potentials. With that in place, physically challenged people will walk through life with hope.

     

    • Rasak Musbau

     Lagos State Ministry of Information and Strategy, Ikeja.

  • Fed. Govt. lack of coherent policy on physically challenged

    SIR: It is now one year and nothing has changed, nothing new has occurred as far as physically challenged people are concerned in Nigeria. Ordinarily one would have thought that the euphoria of change which came with the Buhari-led government would have translated into positive difference for the physical challenged people but unfortunately the situation is no!

    President Buhari must act fast.  Bad as it may, the remaining three years could also usher in tremendous changes and substantive difference in the lives of the physically challenged who are desperately in need of succour at all fronts.

    The problems have to do with the inability of the federal government to recognize the physically challenged as the most important minority group in the country; as well as its inability to also recognize the physically challenged as a substantive economic unit. The moment the federal, state government and local governments can come to terms with these two facts, things will be handled differently in the area of disability. It will become very easy for the government to plan efficiently, easier for government to pull a large population out of poverty and for government institutions at all levels to broaden the allocation of resources.

    Some of the urgent ideas that will benefit physically challenged people include:

    1). A small and medium enterprise (SME) fund for physically challenged people.

    There has been a lot of talk, a lot of written materials and a lot of      policy debate on SMEs but none have been considered specifically for people that are physically challenged. It is time that we set up a special SME fund for physically challenged people which is interest-free and guaranteed by the federal government. There are a lot of physically challenged people endowed with talents and skills but because of the challenge of funding they are trapped in poverty.

    2). Upgrading and expansion of all schools and institutions of physically challenged people. Since we cannot build new schools and facilities for the physically challenged people, why don’t we then upgrade all existing facilities, retrain teachers and tutors? This endeavor should be passed to all private institutions because more work is being done at the private level than even the public sector.

    3) Grant scholarships to physically challenged to study. There is urgent need to educate our physically challenged citizens to expand their knowledge and skills. Albert Einstein, the father of science was considered disabled and he still changed the world hence we must take the chance and invest more in the capacity of the disabled

    4)  Free health policy. Most physically challenged people are poor and they retain the highest figure in poverty statistics, they do not have access to health and generally they are being discriminated against, it is high time that the government and the private sector steps in to grant free health services to the physically challenged people

    5)  Sports Academy for physically challenged people. The gains and exploits which our physically challenged citizens have recorded at the paralytic games home and abroad is enough to inspire us to action but still we won’t. They have earned a place in our sporting history with all the medals and accolades they brought home. Nigeria is full of talents in various sporting activities; javelin, short-put, weight-lifting, handball etc. but they lack befitting sport facilities and trainers. The Federal Government should immediately set up a standard state of the art sports academy equipped with trainers, materials and facilities specifically dedicated to the physically-challenged.

     

    • Hon. Adeyemi Abidemi Adebola

    Lokoja.

  • Katsina gives interest free loan to the physically challenged

    Katsina gives interest free loan to the physically challenged

    Katsina State Government has commenced the distribution of N30, 000 interest free loan to each physically challenge person selected from the 34 local government areas in the state.

    Speaking at the disbursement yesterday in Funtua, the Special Adviser to Gov. Aminu Masari on Poverty Eradication, Alhaji Abdulkadir Nasir, said that the scheme was part of government’s effort to empower people.

    Nasir said that the fund was part of the N2billion loan secured from Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to facilitate the growth of small scale businesses across the state, adding that various categories of people would be empowered in the scheme.

    He said that the state government would pay the interest required in the loan and beneficiaries would pay the exact amount they collected within 12 months, which would then be given as a revolving loan to another set of beneficiaries.

    “All categories of physically challenged persons are enlisted from the local government areas aimed at discouraging streets begging and to ensure that they engage in viable businesses within their capacity that will contribute to the nation’s growth.’’

    Nasir said that government needed to enforce laws that would prevent indiscriminate begging in the society, hence, beggars needed to be empowered before preventing them from begging on the streets.

    He urged the beneficiaries to utilise the funds with caution to be of benefit to them.

    A beneficiary, Malam Sani Kuturu from Funtua, expressed appreciation for the gesture, saying he would invest in firewood business.

    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) said beneficiaries were from Dandume, Faskari, Sabuwa, Bakori, Danja, Malumfashi and Musawa.

    Others are Matazu, Kafur, Kankara and Funtua local government areas and at least 11 persons benefited from each of the council.

  • Nollywood star sponsors 107 physically challenged

    Nollywood star sponsors 107 physically challenged

    In fulfilment of his electioneering campaign promises, Nollywood actor and member Lagos State House of Assembly, Desmond Olusola Elliot, has sponsored 107 physically challenged in a skills’ acquisition programme.

    At the graduation, which held at his Surulere Constituency 1, Lagos, Elliot said the three-month programme was meant to improve the standard of living of the physically challenged. He urged the graduands to seize the opportunity to make impact in their lives and community.

    Elliot urged the beneficiaries to be more committed.

    The Vice-Chancellor of National Open University of Nigeria (NOUN), Prof. Vincent Ado Tenebe, who graced the occasion, told the graduands to see themselves as unique.

    He announced that the university  plans to offer automatic admission and small scale loans for them. “It is my pleasure to tell you that our school is going to help by giving you automatic admission. Whatever you have learnt, we will improve it. We are also going to give you micro finance loan which will be monitored by the school,” Tenebe said.

    To complement what the graduands were given and as start-up capital, the Area Sales Manager of Minimie Noodles, Mr Rasheed Alabi presented a N535, 000, cheque, saying “the government won’t have much burden if private organisations can do their bits.”

    Other items given to the graduands include sewing machines, manicure boxes, wheel chairs, among others.