… To honour and award Ex-president Muhammadu Buhari for signing Nat. Disability Act
By Lanre Oloyede
As part of efforts to ensure full participation of all stakeholders and members of the disability community in the Beyond Disability Project, the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Special Needs and Equal Opportunities, Hon. Mohammed Abba Isa, has secured the buy-in and support of Disability Cluster Heads in the 36 states of the federation for the success of the Project.
This was part of resolutions reached at a special stakeholders meeting held Wednesday between the SSAP and a team of the cluster heads in his office in Abuja.
Recall that the Beyond Disability Project has so far attracted over 25 partners including the ECOWAS Commission whose member states have endorsed and adopted the program.
Hon. Abba Isa while addressing the leaders noted that the disability community is so large and wide that one person cannot reach everybody hence the role of the cluster heads is crucial in mobilizing their members to the event.
The Senior presidential aide stressed that with 35.1 million, Nigeria has the largest population of PWDs in Africa hence the need to show leadership qualities for the rest of the continent to follow.
He submitted that Nigeria has so far demonstrated this leadership role in Africa by signing and ratification of many disability legal instruments and treaties as well as regional action plans, adding that Nigeria is one of the few African nations to enact the National Disability law, establish a Commission for PWDs and in addition create the office of SSA to the President on disability affairs.
The SSAP lamented that despite all these, PWDs in Nigeria still face discrimination, hence the need for collaboration among stakeholders for proper implementation of the Disability Act.
The presidential aide hinted that it was part of efforts by his office to ensure full implementation of the national disability law in line with the desires and aspirations of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu that he came up with the Beyond Disability Project.
He stated that the Project which is the brainchild of his office has now been adopted by the presidency.
President Tinubu will on July 22, 2024 launch the Beyond Disability Project, the Disability Trust Fund and the Nigeria Persons With Disabilities Database NPWDD.
The SSAP explained that the NPWDD is an interactive database application that will not allow for multiple registrations and it is being developed in partnership with the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) and National Population Commission, NPC.
The presidential aide emphasized the need to have the data of the 35.1 million PWDs in Nigeria, stressing that data is key to planning and development.
He announced that some prominent Nigerians will be recognized and awarded for their roles and contributions to Disability Inclusion, including former president Muhammadu Buhari for signing the National Disability Act into law.
The presidential aide submitted that the project with expected attendance of about 1000 participants including governors and serving ministers will have PWDs making up 80% of the attendees, hence the need to engage the Disability Cluster Heads in the 36 states and FCT to handle the mobilization of their members to the event.
Also speaking, the National Coordinator, of Beyond Disability Project, Mr. Rodstick Steven, maintained that BD project is here to change the narratives.
“The program is designed to change intervention for PWDs from pity and charity approach to empathy and empowerment approach by teaching them how to fish rather than give them fish. The project will train PWDs in all areas of skills and vocations including media as the project will come up with a TV station and we are going to have journalists, reporters, newscasters, presenters and editors who are PWDs running the media station,” he stated.
Speaking on the database application, Mr Rodstick stressed that it is impossible to plan development or empowerment for people you don’t know their population or have their data, hence the reason for creating this comprehensive database.
“PWDs don’t have to go and queue in the sun to register, they can do that from the comfort of their homes,” he added.
In his remark, the National President of National Association of Persons With Physical Disabilities, NAPWPD, Mr Rilwan Abdullahi submitted that the Beyond Disability Project is a very good initiative and welcome development, but expressed the need for the grassroots to be carried along in order to ensure this project gets to the rural areas so it can touch the lives of PWDs at the grassroots.
Mr Abdullahi added that this project will help disability cluster heads to meet the expectations of their people on them.
Also speaking, Mr Peter Iorkighir, National President of Nigerians with Leprosy, who expressed worry that people affected with leprosy have no access to education due to discrimination, urged the organizers of the Project to ensure that educational development component of the Beyond Disability Project benefit people with Leprosy. He pray for God to make the project a success.
In her remark, Mrs Ugwuaneke Chinyere, who represented the National President of Nigerian Association of the Blind, Mr Stanley Onyebuchi, joined other cluster heads to congratulate and commend the SSAP for this laudable initiative while calling for more slots for women with disabilities in order to achieve gender equality and inclusion with the Beyond Disability Project.
Representative of the National President of Spinal Cord Injury Association of Nigeria SCIAN, Mrs Maureen Chioma called on all members of disability clusters to support and rally round this novel initiative by the SSA.
On his part, Mr Haruna Mohammed Tsafe of NNAD, thanked the SSAP for the opportunity, while requesting that this program be implemented to touch the lives of PWDs at the grassroots. He also requested that the project should focus more on education, saying “we want PWDs to have opportunities to go to school so that they can also become graduates and be able to get jobs.”
Mr Donald Tampi representing chairman of Albinism Association of Nigeria, complained that the albinism community are lagging behind and requested that the Albinism Community be carried along while declaring support for the program.
While speaking, Mike Maikumo Gideon, who represented the National President of JONAPWD, congratulated members of the disability community for having Hon Mohammed Abba Isa as the SSA on Special Needs and Equal Opportunities whom he described as a round peg in a round hole.
He said: “This project is very suitable for those at the grassroots in the rural areas. I commended the SSA for the initiative and gave my full support to it.”
He charged all cluster heads to cooperate fully with the office of the SSA.
Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Yahoo Mail: Search, Organize, Conquer
