The Nasarawa State Governor, Tanko Al-Makura, and his Ondo State counterpart, Rotimi Akeredolu, have urged support for persons living with disabilities, noting that the discrimination against them is enormous.
Al-Makura and Akeredolu made these separate remarks in Abuja on Monday at the Kpakpando Foundation anniversary, a non-governmental organisation established to cater to people living with disabilities.
The Nasarawa State governor noted that he was also living with a disability as he had a hearing impairment, adding that he would not underrate disabled persons.
He said, “The constituency of persons living with disabilities is one which I always support. If I may tell you, for those of you who do not, I am a part and parcel of people living with disabilities. I live with a hearing impairment. I hear with the use of aids. However, there is an enormous discrimination against people living with disabilities.
“If we as leaders do not consider the challenges facing people living with disabilities, it will be improper. They need care, support and friendly policies. The cost of living for a person with disabilities is higher than for a normal person. Every normal person is a potentially disabled person. We need to start advocacy programmes for the disabled persons.”
On the other hand, Akeredolu, said, “We cannot afford to continue to exclude the disabled persons from the mainstream national structure. We have failed to include them in our national space. All of us are guilty of this.
“We need every kind of people to make Nigeria great. This country needs you to make us go around. In the last Olympics able-bodied athletes won nothing, but it was the disabled persons who made us proud and came back with medals.”
