A Non-Governmental Organisation, Adenike Tejuoso Foundation has called President Bola Tinubu on the need to increase budgetary allocation to Persons With Disabilities (PWDs), and more inclusion of them to serve in his administration.
The founder of the organization Queen Adenike Tejuoso made the call at the Ramadan Palliatives distribution organised by the foundation in partnership with Mogbo Moya Foods, held at Sango Ota area of Ogun state.
She pointed out that poverty and the effects of economic hardship is more at the grassroots where most persons with disabilities reside, emphasizing the importance for Tinubu-led administration to give more attention to the grassroots.
Tejuoso stressed that the government should address these challenges by engaging more Persons With Disabilities (PWDs), in agriculture, food supply chain which will address insecurity and unemployment.
The founder who was represented by the Chief Executive Officer of Wheelchair Dreaming Enterprise, Abayomi Soetan, pointed out that by providing infrastructure, helping business owners with disabilities grow, and empowering persons with disabilities in vocational studies, will help bridge the gap in food insecurity.
“The population of persons with disabilities is growing and many cannot have access to foodstuffs because of the economic challenges that they are facing and the rising cost of living is affecting everybody. That is why today we are distributing Ramadan Palliatives to these persons with disability in the state’, she stated.
“The government cannot see everything, they cannot see everybody but if they include persons with disabilities into government then it will go a long way in helping the grassroots to wrestle the poverty”, she added
In his remarks Chairman, Joint National Association of Persons With Disabilities (JONAPWD), Ogun State Chapter Dr. Michael Eborhon frowned at the non-inclusion of Persons With Disabilities (PWDs) community in the Ogun state government, calling on the State Assembly to expedite action on the proposed bill in respect of Persons With Disabilities.
“We realize that economic hardship and poverty is synonymous to disability in sub-Saharan Africa and that is the reason why we are calling on everyone, the church, the mosque, the government, and the society to lend a helping hand to persons with disability’, Eborhon stated.
“We have over 37 million persons with disability in Nigeria and when we look at the representation in governance in all the 36 states, and the 774 local governments, we can say the representation is really small’, he added.
“We therefore call on our government to include persons with disability in governance both at the National and state level. In Ogun state, we want to remind the governor of his promise, the electoral promise of inclusion in his government of persons with disability and also to expedite action concerning Ogun State People disability law and towards the implementation of this law. The state assembly must fast track this process because it would demonstrate the fact that there is disability inclusiveness in their governance”, he said
Meanwhile, one of the beneficiaries of the palliatives Kafilu Otesile expressed appreciation to the initiative and gesture explaining that it will further cushion the effect of the economic hardship facing the Persons With Disabilities (PWDs) in the community.
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