A non-governmental organisation, the Sir David Osunde Foundation (SDOF), has provided over 200 scholarships and 120 wheelchairs, among others to the people living with disabilities (PWDs) in Abuja.
At the event to celebrate the organisation’s 30 years anniversary, the minister of Women Affairs and Social Development, Pauline Tallen, commended the gesture, while urging all Nigerians to partake in it.
“This is a worthy gesture, a godly gesture that I will urge every Nigerian to partake in it when you put a smile on the face of the physically challenged, those in need, those that have no one to cater for to reach out to.
“I tell people that whatever you give out will surely come back because God loves the cheerful giver and we can make this world a beautiful place by making these class of people happy, reaching out to them, making them feel at home and making them feel part of us all they need most is us if we can share the love we will have peace, what we lack in Nigeria is love, because if there is love all things will go well.
“If there is love there will be peace, if there is love there will be no war, if there is love there will be understanding, progress, development, the presence of God will be there. So all I am asking is let’s love one another, let’s be our brother’s keeper, lets put a smile on the faces of the unfortunate ones that find themselves in this hopeless situation,” she added
The former Catholic Archbishop of Abuja, His Eminence, Cardinal John Onaiyekan, who commended the initiative urged Christian who has the God-given talent to enter the political arena.
He said that even though the political arena is being hijacked by professional politicians who are always going to manipulate the process, he urged Nigerians to try again even if they fail the first time.
On his part, the founder/president of the foundation, Sir David Osunde said within a period of thirty years, millions of people in the country have since realised that persons with disabilities are created in the same image of God.
Represented by Dr Anthony Osunde, he said he urged the government to provide for the marginalized, especially persons with disabilities, with a view to giving them the opportunity to always showcase their talents.
“Our pleas here is that those in the private sector should join hands with the three tiers of government to carve out programmes that will be beneficial to persons with disabilities,” he said.