The members of Joint National Association of Persons with Disabilities (JONAPWD), Osun State Chapter on Tuesday stormed the Office of the Governor in Osogbo to demand inclusion in the state.
They President of JONAPWD in the state, Kehinde Onitiju, said the essence was to draw attention of government and the public to the plight of PWDs in the state as the world commemorates the day set aside for persons with disabilities.
Onitiju lauded President Muhammadu Buhari for signing Disability Bill into law and appealed to him to ensure implementation of the provision of law.
He appealed to Osun State Governor, Gboyega Oyetola to appoint persons with disabilities into his government.
He said there are 57,000 PWDs in Osun as at the last count in 2012 and that they want direct access to the Governor.
Onitiju said, “Majority of our members are unemployed. Those that are self-employed lack financial capability to thrive in terms of capital. Many of our members find it difficult to use some public facilities, for instance those on wheelchairs. Our members who are students do not have access to equipment required to aid learning”.
Also, in a chat with our correspondent, the Coordinator of The Albino Foundation in the state, Mr Lukman Nafiu said health issue remains the same main challenge facing his members. He said the main problems are poor vision (sight) and skin infection.
He said the persons with albinism in the state also suffered economic challenge, stigmatization and myth as many people see them as spirits and believe that it was a course to be an albino.
Mr Joseph Ogunniran of the of Nigeria Association of the Blind (NAB) said transportation and stigmatization are the main challenges of his members blind persons in the state as most of them often find it difficult to move from one place to the other.
He said, “Many of us are not employed and people treat us with pity instead of supporting us to live good life. Some landlords refused to rent their houses to our members because they feel that the blind persons will be a burden on them. It is difficult for a blind person to just walk to the bus stop to enter public vehicle. It’s a big challenge “.
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