Communities of people living with disabilities in Ogun State have laud Gov. Ibikunle Amosun for signing the disability bill into law, INN reports.
Reacting to the development was the Chairman of Ogun State Association Deaf (OSAD), Comrade Sunday Oluwole. When asked his input on the recent development, he says “Now that Governor Amosun Ibikunle have signed the Ogun State Disability Bill, we are very happy and it is a welcome development.”
He noted that the Disability Bill has been presented to the house of assembly for a long time during the administration of former Governor, Daniel Gbenga and it was not passed into law. He lamented that the suffering, rejection and discrimination often faced by the deaf people in Ogun state has seriously affected their well-being.
According to him, “many deafs persons were denied employment simply because of their condition (deafness). Let me use a case study to back up my assertion. Last year, Governor Amosun Ibikunle wanted to recruit personnels into the state fire service, over 5,000 people applied for the job. Less than 10 deaf applicants also applied for the job. One of the directors at the Ministry of works and Infrastructure discriminated against us on account of our condition.
“Majority of our members are not gainfully employed. It is not because they can’t do the work but our government hasn’t make provision of employment for people with disabilities”
Mr Oluwole called on Gov. Amosun to toe the line of other states like Lagos, Anambra, Ekiti etc, whose governors are disability-friendly.
He said that although the Ogun state disability bill isn’t yet fully implemented, “we do believe that the bill would be implemented in due course. We are using this medium to plead with Governor Amosun Ibikunle to quickly implement the bill before he leaves the office next year” he pleaded.
On his part, the Chairman of Joint National Association of People With Disabilities, (JONAPWD), Ogun State chapter, Mohammed Lekan, appreciated the efforts of Gov. Amosun. He said, “With sincere heart of appreciation, we thank our amiable gov senator Ibikunle Amosun for the creation of an enabling and inclusive platform for all pwds in Ogun state through the assent of the Ogun state disability bill into law. There is no doubt that this development will go along way in reducing the plights of our members.”
Lekan said that majority of their members encountered one form of challenges or the other in their daily activities and these had lead to under-utilization of their potential and unproductivity. He said they were optimistic that appropriate implementation of the bill will reduce poverty among their members and enhance their quality of life.
He called on their members to take active part in the struggle for better recognition and collective well-being.
I will also like to use this medium to appreciate various groups who partnered with jonapwd to ensuring actualization of the bill.
In furtherance, the Chairman of Integrity Dignity Economic Advancement, Ogun chapter, (IDEAOGUN), Jimoh Hammed Abiodun, has commended Gov Amosun for assenting to the Disability Bill.
According to him, “…it’s good thing to all people with special need in our dear state, firstly kudos to our amiable Governor because he said and did it, we extend our greeting to all members in ogun state house of Assembly especially Honourable Ojuri. I personal congratulate all member of Ogun state JONAPWD on it, and I have some people we need to appreciate, they include our co partners FODPLAT, Mr Akinyemi, Mr Gbenga Gbesan, Dr Mrs Olaifa and JDPC because they are the founder of the race and they support us both morally and financially we thank them and lastly the struggle continue for the bill’s implementation”.
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