FG empowers over 5,000 Nigerians living with disabilities

The federal government on Friday reiterated its commitment to implement programs aimed at ensuring the effective rehabilitation of millions of persons living with disabilities (PWD) across the country.

The Permanent Secretary of the Federal Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development, Dr. Nasir Sani-Gwarzo gave the assurance in Abuja, during the opening of the 'Conference of Directors Responsible for Rehabilitation of Persons with Disabilities in Nigeria”, drawn from the 36 states of the federation and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).

According to Dr. Sani-Gwarzo, the conference aimed to build the skills and knowledge of state directors in specific areas of programming such as resource mobilization, programme/project planning and management, as well as as monitoring and evaluation.

"The objectives of this gathering are to: provide a platform for sharing experiences, brainstorming and learning lessons on issues affecting the well-being of persons with disabilities, as well as charting the way forward for effective service delivery for persons with disabilities in the country. .

"It is pertinent that the Directors and Chief Executive Officers responsible for Disability Rehabilitation in Nigeria from all States and FCT meet every year to continuously deliberate on matters affecting persons with disabilities; with a view to proposing decisions achievable that will improve the quality of life of persons with disabilities to enable them to contribute meaningfully to national development, as well as keep abreast of current and emerging issues and how to program effectively for persons with disabilities,” Dr Sani- Gwarzo noted.

Some of the programs and activities implemented by the ministry include: training visually impaired adults at the Nigeria Farmcraft Center for the Blind, where 55 of them graduated in the 2021/2022 session and 47 from between them are currently registered for the 2022/2023 session; regularly providing assistive devices and empowerment tools to more than 5,000 people with disabilities through federal, state, and disability-focused NGOs; developed a national roadmap on local production of assistive technology for persons with disabilities in Nigeria and recently presented it to the general public; conducted assessment visits to 36 states and FCTs on local producers of assistive technology for people with disabilities and built the capacity of 71 teachers; and parents/guardians of children with special needs in six states of Adamawa, Kaduna, Lagos, Imo, Oyo and Delta States. »

Similarly, the administration also identified more than 106 local assistive technology producers in all 36 states and FCTs and successfully built capacity and provided financial support to 48 local producers assistive devices in federal states; trained people with disabilities from the South-East, South-West, North-East and Center-North geopolitical zones on income-generating activities and provided them with cash support to facilitate the establishment of their businesses; strengthened the capacities of 30 visually impaired people in the North-East zone on Daily Independent Living Activities; and is currently training 20 women and girls with disabilities and some caregivers of children with disabilities under a 3-month certified skills development program by Industrial Training Funds, Abuja Office as part of the first phase of a pilot project .

“You will recall that in early 2019, the current administration signed into law the Disability Discrimination (Prohibition) Act after suffering many years of setbacks. integration of persons with disabilities into society, which led to the creation of the National Commission for Persons with Disabilities with responsibilities for education, health care, social, economic and civil rights of persons with disabilities and other related issues.< /p>

"In line with the enactment by the current administration of the Disability Discrimination (Prohibition) Act 2018, it is pertinent that States enact this Act for the effective delivery of services to all people with disabilities across the country.

"We therefore believe that this forum will give all of us an opportunity to rub our minds, deliberate and come up with concrete steps to ensure that the target group - the disability community, for whom we serve, gets the best of ourselves.

“Although a lot has been accomplished since our last meeting, it must be stressed that there is still much to do. I therefore want to challenge all of you to reflect on ways to improve the quality of life of persons with disabilities in Nigeria with actionable recommendations that will help us all achieve our collective mandate,” he urged.

For her part, the Director of Special Needs, Mrs. Nkechi Onwuke explained that the Conference was organized for State Directors and Chief Executives in charge of the rehabilitation of Persons with Disabilities in the different States of the Federation, including including the FCT.

According to her, the story of...