The Ekiti State Government has intensified its commitment to disability inclusion by training 100 Persons with Disabilities (PWDs) in various vocational skills and empowering 130 others who had earlier completed similar programmes.
The Special Adviser to the Governor on Special Education and Social Inclusion, Mrs. Adetoun Agboola, disclosed this during a radio programme in Ado-Ekiti, noting that the ongoing training is being conducted at the Skills Acquisition Centre in Ado-Ekiti under the administration of Governor Biodun Oyebanji.
According to her, the trainees are being equipped with practical skills in fashion designing, information and communications technology (ICT), hairdressing, catering services, and shoemaking to enhance their economic independence and self-reliance.
She added that between 2023 and 2025, 130 PWDs who completed similar training programmes were empowered with start-up equipment to establish their trades.
Agboola explained that beneficiaries were provided with sewing machines, mannequins, button stapling machines and fabrics for fashion designing; laptops and printers for ICT; generators and shoemaking machines for shoemakers; dryers, wig-making tools and wash hand basins for hairdressers; and ovens, gas cookers, mixers and pastry materials for catering services. She added that the programme also includes internship placements with local artisans to provide hands-on experience.
She further revealed that the state government had embarked on community engagement visits across the local government areas to encourage parents and guardians to enrol children with special needs in the state’s three special schools and the Government Therapy Centre in Ado-Ekiti, where free education and therapy services are provided.
Agboola noted that the outreach programmes also featured voter education, sensitisation on free healthcare services for PWDs at primary healthcare centres, and the distribution of food items to vulnerable persons across communities.
The Special Adviser said the Oyebanji administration had invested significantly in rehabilitating and equipping the School for the Deaf in Ikoro-Ekiti, the School for the Blind in Ikere-Ekiti, and the School for Children with Special Needs in Ido-Ekiti, alongside the upgrade of the Government Therapy Centre for Children with Disabilities in Ado-Ekiti.
She disclosed that 103 children are currently receiving care at the therapy centre, many of whom have shown remarkable improvement, adding that the initiatives have helped to uncover exceptional talents among students. She cited the example of Master Awelewa Eniola, a student of the Special School in Ido-Ekiti, who emerged fourth at a national arts competition in Abuja and received a cash prize of ₦1 million and a motorised wheelchair.
Agboola also said her office recently organised a mental health programme for 300 women with disabilities, providing free counselling and financial support to promote emotional wellbeing.
She further announced the introduction of a free healthcare programme for PWDs at primary healthcare centres across the state, the establishment of an inclusive public school in Ikole-Ekiti donated by the Commissioner for Finance, Mr. Akintunde Oyebode, and the provision of prosthetic limbs to 138 amputees through the intervention of a federal lawmaker, Mr. Akintunde Rotimi.
Reaffirming the administration’s commitment to inclusion, Agboola said recent distributions of food items and cash assistance to PWDs were aimed at cushioning the effects of economic hardship and improving their quality of life, urging beneficiaries to maximise future empowerment opportunities for sustainable development.
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