By Yahaya Yusuf.
Your Excellency Sir, in my previous article titled “Governor Inuwa is the most disabled-friendly Governor”, I commended you for the love and care you had showed us PWDs by being the first Governor to ever come out to address us in person on the international day of PWDs and promising to establish an Agency for PWDs.
I added that, for you to come out and address us under the sun for almost one hour and promising to create an enabling environment (social model of disability instead of charity model) by establishing an agency to address all the challenges facing PWDs, is truly unprecedented in the history of the state. We pray that the Agency will soon be established.
However it’s not just about establishing an Agency but It is about establishing it as an independent body which must be chaired and managed by only qualified persons with Disabilities,
It is about persons with Disabilities being the people who must be in charge because it’s often said that he who wears the shoes know where it pinches.
Your Excellency sir, Although I didn’t support charity model of PWDs which view people with disabilities as an object of charity, I’m an advocate of social model which view people with disabilities as an object of Inclusion. However as a matter of fact, due to the effect of COVID-19 otherwise called coronavirus, I will like to appeal to you in providing relief items to persons with disabilities to cushion the effect of the hardship faced by persons with disabilities during this lockdown. I believe this singular act will surely go a long way in ameliorating the poor living standard of persons with disabilities at this trying time considering their socioeconomic status in their various communities.
Your Excellency, however if I may suggest, please whenever you are going to release anything for PWDs, kindly do it through their office address (which is the JONAPWD office/blind workshop located near the Court of appeal) instead of sending it to some ministry to distribute it to us because I’m sure you heard what happened the last time you released about four million naira (₦4Million) to support PWDs and their organizations. I don’t want to mention the ministry nor do I intend to expose the people involved in diverting the funds mean to support people with disabilities because the matter is already with EFCC.
I just hope this will serve as a lesson for some heartless and shameless individuals who can siphon/ divert or cheat anything the government released to support the most vulnerable members of the society, people with disabilities.
Your Excellency sir, if your predecessors already established this Agency for PWDs and chaired and managed by only persons with Disabilities I’m sure the issues of diverting, siphoning and cheating anything the government released to support PWDs won’t happen. Because it will be released under the Agency instead of any ministry and it must be managed by PWDs who wear the shoes and know where it pinches instead.
However we sincerely appreciate your intention to create this Agency for PWDs so that all issues relating to PWDs such as empowerment, employment, skill acquisition, discrimination, education, general welfare etc will be addressed through the Agency instead. This is a clear indication that you have a Mission and Vision for PWDs more than your predecessors. God bless you your Excellency.