Blessing Ibunge in Port Harcourt
Persons Living with Disabilities (PLWDs) in the Niger Delta region yesterday received mobility and hearing aids worth millions of naira from the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC).
Presenting the items, the NDDC Managing Director, Dr. Samuel Ogbuku, assured the PLWDs of the commission’s commitment to their well-being and development.
The items presented during the maiden edition of the Niger Delta Disability Praise Festival in Port Harcourt included wheelchairs, sensor-guide canes, hearing aids and crutches.
Ogbuku, who was represented by the NDDC Assistant Director, Education, Health and Social Services, Dr. Asela Agala, remarked that some physically challenged persons were very talented and gifted, stating that what such people need are opportunities and support to live meaningful and sustainable lives.
He declared: “The NDDC has a robust welfare package for youths, women and persons living with disability, and we have over the years rolled out programmes to address their challenges.”
The NDDC chief executive officer re-affirmed the commitment of the commission to assist people living with disabilities to give them sustainable livelihoods, noting that NDDC was devoted to the overall development of persons living with disability.
In his remarks, the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Disability Matters, Hon Mohammed Isa, commended the NDDC for supporting the efforts of the federal government in furthering inclusive policies and ensuring the development of supportive environment for people with disabilities.
He said: “Disability is a mindset and nobody is immune to it. Anybody can have a disability at any point in time. We have 25 million persons living with disabilities in Nigeria and some of them resulted from accidents, diseases and age. We need an implementable legal framework that will safeguard the integrity of persons living with disabilities in Nigeria.”
Isa applauded the federal government for instituting a law: Discrimination Against Persons with Disabilities (Prohibition) Act 2019, which provides for the integration of persons with disabilities into society and for constituting the National Commission for Persons with Disabilities (NCPWD).
Isa said further that: “It is important for us as human beings to understand that disability is part of the human condition and that all of us may become disabled in one way or another during the course of our lives.”
Also speaking, the NDDC Consultant on the Niger Delta Disability Praise Festival, Hon. Timi Ziriki, urged the government at all levels to proactively create avenues for the inclusion of persons living with disability in their policies and programmes.
