Nigerians with disabilities have hailed President Bola Tinubu for leading the country in the right direction in the last one year.
They are also thanking the President for raising the stakes for persons with disabilities under the current administration.
Senior Special Assistant to the President on Disability Matters, Mohammed Isa disclosed this in an interview with State House Correspondents in Abuja.
“The Renewed Hope Agenda of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu says five percent of employment in every ministry or agency of government must be reserved for persons with disability and that is in line with our laws too,” Mr Isa stated.
He said his office has reached out to all agencies of government to ensure they comply with the Presidential directive and they have promised to do so.
The Senior Special Assistant to the President was speaking in commemoration of the Nigerian leader’s first year in office.
He said: “The assessment of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu in the last one year especially to the community of persons with disabilities is almost 100 percent because I know that before now, we didn’t have a law for persons with disability.
“Furthermore, we now have 23 States out of 36 that have signed and adopted the State disability bill and have also created agencies catering for persons with disability.
“Before his coming on board, most of the programmes, policies and plans of previous administrations but with this administration, we the persons with disabilities have seen significant progress in terms of fighting hunger, poverty, job creation and even improvement in our security.
“You can rate President Bola Tinubu high. I am from the North-East, where we had an insurgency but go there now and see how things have improved. Even in other regions of the country where we had cases of banditry, you hardly hear about such now, so it is a significant progress under President Tinubu.”
He stressed that persons with disabilities are included in all the policies and programmes of the current administration.
The Presidential aide noted that the association of persons with disabilities have also received the needed cooperation regarding their inclusion and welfare, from some State Governors
“So far so good, we have cooperation form some of the Ministries Departments and Agencies and even some of the State Governors, who have complied with the President’s directive that they should include us in their programmes.
“For example, the Governor of Borno State, Prof. Babagana Zulum, recently gave out employment to 15 persons with disabilities and that shows how he has aligned himself with the Renewed Hope Agenda of the President,” Mohammed Isa said.
Commenting on his appointment as an aide to the President, Mohammed Isa noted that it was out of President Tinubu’s passion for persons with disabilities.
“Honestly I feel overwhelmed and I thank God for my appointment because President Bola Ahmed Tinubu is a person that wants to see that every segment of the society is well represented in his administration.
“You can see how President Tinubu has a passion for persons with disabilities even when he was the Governor of Lagos State many years back. He is now replicating that love for this set of people as the President of Nigeria.
“He created a special office for us and named it as the special needs and equal opportunity office; he made sure that there is equal opportunity for all Nigerians, irrespective of diversity, disability or anything that will cause division or discrimination,” he said.
The Senior Special Assistant said his office has gone far in achieving its mandate, adding that he is embarking on advocacy visits to ministries, departments and agencies of government, including private entities, to ensure that the rights of persons with disabilities working with them are protected.
According to Mohammed Isa, the President further exhibited his love by signing the African Charter of Demand, an instrument that promotes the interest and issues of persons with disabilities.
“So, you can see how the President has aligned himself with global best practices to make sure persons with disabilities are carried along in all the policies and programmes of his administration.
“He has shown us love by giving us a sense of belonging as well as the platform to exhibit our skills and we will continue to give him the needed support so that he will succeed as our President and father of the nation” he added.
Mr Mohammed Isa used the opportunity to call on persons with disabilities not to give up. Rather, he said they should always show their potential because they have equal opportunities to excel among other Nigerians
He assured citizens that President Bola Tinubu will do more for the nation thus Nigerians should support him in every little way they can.