LAGOS State government on Wednesday empowered over 2,000 Persons With Disabilities (PWDs) with financial grants, assistive technologies and mobility aids, even as it unveiled plans to employ 250 others into the mainstream of the State and Local Government service.
Items distributed to the selected beneficiaries include: 1 Hyundai 30-Seater bus for Pacelli School for the visually impaired/Blind, Surulere, Lagos; 1 Hyundai 12-Seater mini bus for Joint National Association of Persons Living With Disabilities (Lagos State Chapter) and 1 Index Express Embosser with Duxbury Braille for Nigerian Society for the Blind, among several others.
Beside, 10 Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) dealing with issues of disability in the state were billed to receive N500,000 each as grants while 500 PWDs will also receive N100,000 each as financial empowerment.
Governor Akinwunmi Ambode, who spoke at the ceremony, said that the setting up of the Disability Trust Fund (DTF) and different empowerment programmes for PWDs was in fulfilment of electoral promise to make life worth living for PWDs and support them in realizing their dreams.
Ambode, who was represented by his Deputy, Dr (Mrs) Idiat Adebule, explained that the gesture was aimed at moving away from the charitable model of empowerment to a model that would make PWDs self-reliant and wealth creators.
He urged other physically challenged bodies and individuals who were not captured in the first phase of the gesture to be calm and show understanding with the state government, adding that more beneficiaries would be captured in the future.
The State Commissioner for Youth and Social Development, Mrs Uzamat Akinbile-Yusuf, in her welcome address, said that the gesture would go a long way in enhancing the productivity of this category of persons and also facilitate their contributions to the socio-economic development of Lagos State.
Akinbile-Yusuf maintained that in line with the social inclusion policy of the state government, the administration of Mr Akinwunmi Ambode would continue to ensure that the rights of PLWDs were protected and promoted through relevant policies and programmes.
While noting that the gesture of the state government had assisted in reducing the menace of street begging in Lagos, the commissioner urged the beneficiaries to see the empowerment as an opportunity to break away from the shackle of poverty by making judicious use of the grants and other assistive aids provided for them.
“Beneficiaries of this gesture of the state government must imbibe the spirit of giving and contributing to society and see themselves as instruments of positive change,” she counselled.
and then