THEY SAY I'M DEAF.
They say I’m deaf,
These folks who call me friend.
They do not comprehend.
They say I’m deaf,
And look on me as queer,
Because I cannot hear.
They say I’m deaf,
I, who hear all day
My throbbing heart at play,
The song the sunset sings,
The joy of pretty things,
The smiles that greet my eye,
Two lovers passing by,
A brook, a tree, a bird;
Who says I have not heard?
Aye, tho’ it must seem odd,
At night I oft hear God.
So many kinds I get,
Of happy songs, and yet
They say I’m deaf!
~ Saul N. Kessler
Wednesday, 16 December 2015
THEY SAY I'M DEAF.
They say I’m deaf,
These folks who call me friend.
They do not comprehend.
They say I’m deaf,
And look on me as queer,
Because I cannot hear.
They say I’m deaf,
I, who hear all day
My throbbing heart at play,
The song the sunset sings,
The joy of pretty things,
The smiles that greet my eye,
Two lovers passing by,
A brook, a tree, a bird;
Who says I have not heard?
Aye, tho’ it must seem odd,
At night I oft hear God.
So many kinds I get,
Of happy songs, and yet
They say I’m deaf!
~ Saul N. Kessler
They say I’m deaf,
These folks who call me friend.
They do not comprehend.
They say I’m deaf,
And look on me as queer,
Because I cannot hear.
They say I’m deaf,
I, who hear all day
My throbbing heart at play,
The song the sunset sings,
The joy of pretty things,
The smiles that greet my eye,
Two lovers passing by,
A brook, a tree, a bird;
Who says I have not heard?
Aye, tho’ it must seem odd,
At night I oft hear God.
So many kinds I get,
Of happy songs, and yet
They say I’m deaf!
~ Saul N. Kessler
The story of this poor disable young lady really disturbed me and i feel i should Tag as many of you as possible who can advocate the rot in our system headed by educated illiterate until we experience change. We still have some 19th century professors in our universities which by standard should have been retired. Before you take the pain to read her story, please do scan through the following names of the past disable heroes
DISABLED PEOPLE WHO MADE A DIFFERENCE!
1. 569–475BC – Pythagoras
2. 100-44BC – Julius Caesar
3. 1608–1674 – Milton
4. 1755-1794 - George Couthon
5. 1770- 1827 – Ludwig van Beethoven
6. 1788-1824 - Lord Byron
7. 1809-1852 – Louis Braille
8. 1821-1881 – Dostoevsky
9. 1849-1908 – Tom Wiggins
10. 1864-1901 – Toulouse Lautrec
11. 1873-1956 – W.C.Handy
12. 1879-1955 – Albert Einstein
13. 1888-1945 – Franklin D. Roosevelt
14. 1880-1968 – Helen Keller
15. 1895-1965 – Dorothea Lange
16. 1907-1954 – Frida Kahlo
17. 1930- - Blind Boys of Alabama
18. 1932-1981 – Christy Brown
19. 1937-1979 – Paul Hunt
20. 1938- - Vic Finkelstien
21. 1939- - Anne Pridmore
22. 1942- - Stephen Hawking
23. 1945- - Itzhak Perlman
24. 1947- - David Blunkett
25. 1948- - Richard Rieser
26. 1950- - Stevie Wonder
27. 1950- - Micheline Mason
28. 1950- - Dr Paddy Ladd
29. 1953- - Nabil Shaban
30. 1959 – Jane Campbell
31. 1963 – Mat Fraser
32 1965- - Alison Lapper
33. 1966 - Evelyn Glennie
34. 1968 - Heather Mills
35. 1969 – Tanni Grey Thompson
36. 1972- - Ade Adepatian
37. 1974 - Julie Fernandez
38. 1980s - Direct Action Network
39. 1986- - Heart ‘n’ Soul Theatre
& Music Group
40. 1981 – Francesca Martinez
41. 1984– - Gareth Gates
42. 1985- - Maresa Mackeith
43. 1986- - Anthony Ford
Zephania
45. 1990 Bethany Hamilton
----------------------------------------------------------------
SHOCKING: Rivers University expels student for having “speech and hearing challenges”
-PremiumTimes
The student opened the letter she was clutching in her hands and felt the walls around her crumble.
As Jane Ottah stood outside her departmental office at the Rivers State University of Science and Technology, the reality of what she had just read began to gradually sink in.
“What I saw in the letter was the shock of my life,” said Ms. Ottah, 28, who was in her first year in the Department of Educational Foundation.
“This was a thing I will never believe, this was the one thing that could have taken away my life if it wasn’t for the help of my friends who were there when I was about to faint.”
On January 30, 2015, the university terminated Ms. Ottah’s admission over claims of speech and hearing challenges.
“I am directed to state that during your recent medical examination in the Health Services Department, it was observed that you are medically challenged and have hearing and speech difficulties,” read the letter signed by C.M Ewhorlu, Principal Assistant Registrar (Senate) of the university.
“I am further directed to state that as a result of these difficulties our team of medical personnel found it impossible to communicate with you.
“Since the University does not have special communication facilities, the Vice-Chancellor has directed that you be de-registered on health grounds. I am in the circumstance, directed to inform you that you have been de-registered on health grounds with immediate effect.
“You are therefore advised to hand over all University property(ies) in your possession to your Head of Department and thereafter leave the campus.”
A ‘Special’ Student?
Despite the university’s claims that she was a special student, Ms. Ottah insisted she had no such challenges.
After initially applying to study Business Administration at the university, Ms. Ottah was offered an admission to read Educational Foundations in September 2014.
When the school reopened a month later, she joined other fresh students for the admission formalities, which included a medical check-up at the institution’s medical centre.
“As soon as I went there and I was asked what is wrong with my voice, I told the doctor that I have a voice problem, that I can talk but at times my voice is somehow,” Ms. Ottah told PREMIUM TIMES during a Whatsapp chat.
“I was not with my hearing aid the day I went there., and she (the doctor) didn’t understand me very well but the other younger doctor was there as well who was asking me questions about what happened to my voice and I decided to tell her about my hearing problem as well.
“And she asked me some questions like how did it happened and I told her. She seemed to understand me a bit but the elder doctor didn’t.
“And she asked about my eyes just because I was putting on glasses. And I told her that I do have eyes problem and she checked my eyes and put it down on a book.
”And she asked me if I was sick as a kid because of my hearing loss. I told her no. It just happened in a way that one can’t tell.
“So she asked about my secondary school, if it was a deaf school. I told her no, it’s not a deaf school I went to.”
According to her West African Examination Council result made available to PREMIUM TIMES, Ms. Ottah finished from Hallel College in Rumuogba, Port Harcourt, with three distinctions and five credits.
At the university medical centre, Ms. Ottah said she overheard the doctors discussing the possibility of her coping with the academic rigours.
“From that day, nothing was bad. I was busy with assignment, project, test, and planning for my first semester exams in February,” she said.
The school went on Christmas break on December 22, 2014, and resumed on January 5th, 2015.
Everything seemed fine for Ms. Ottah.
Until the first semester examination began.
“On the first paper, there was a paper that the lecturer will give you to sign if your name is there, and if you see your name on the list you have to sign there and I did mine,” she said.
Ms. Ottah said she signed against her name during her second and third papers.
However, on the day of the fourth paper, trouble surfaced.
“I didn’t see my name on the list to sign and I was worried that I asked my course mate and she direct me to go to the ICT centre to check,” she said.
“I went there with two of my course mates and we were told that they couldn’t find my name on the list but my name was there and that they couldn’t see the course I requested, and I was told it was from the medical centre. They blocked me from there.
“And I went with my course mate and met with the doctor, crying with a shaky voice which made her not to understand what I was talking about and I decided to call my friend to speak on my behalf. For example, I will talk to her and she will tell them what I am saying.
”As soon as we were done talking, the doctor said she once one told me that day I was in her office that I should come the other day but I didn’t. I was so busy that I forget about it. She sent me to my Department Office.”
It was at the Department Office that a lady delivered the letter which bore the shattering news to Ms. Ottah.
“In school, no one ever knew about my hearing problem, it was just my voice they knew,” she said.
Embarrassed dad
Benedict Ottah, her father, described the letter as a “serious embarrassment”.
“I drove to the school, met the HOD, unfortunately, she didn’t attend to me in a way that she should,” Mr. Ottah told PREMIUM TIMES over the telephone.
“And I put up a letter demanding her (his daughter’s) instant recall. They refused. All of a sudden the HOD sent me back to the Medical Board. Only to be informed by the Medical Board that I should write a letter to the VC.
“I later wrote a letter to the VC, copied the Medical Board, the HOD, and the registrar who wrote the letter.”
In his letter to the Vice Chancellor, Mr. Ottah appealed for his daughter’s re-registration, noting that she had been taking her lectures and doing her class assignments without stress or complaints.
“I wish to state that on 2nd March, 2015, in the office of the HOD of Technical and Science Educational Foundations, Jane Ihuoma Ottah demonstrated clearly to the witness of the HOD her hearing and responding ability different from what was stated in the above letter,” Mr. Ottah wrote in the letter dated 2nd March, 2015.
“This demonstration was made possible while she wore her hearing aids. The same demonstration repeated again when she was referred to meet the Medical Director, Medical Services on same 2nd March 2015 in the office of the Medical Director himself.
“However, Jane Ihuoma Ottah did not attend the medical observation with her hearing, ear-aids the day she was scheduled. Furthermore, I wish the Medical Services may conduct another examination that she should be allowed to use her hearing aids. I am optimistic that this report will be put to rest.”
About two weeks after he wrote to the university, Mr. Ottah said he returned to the school only to be told by the head of her daughter’s department that the letter was “infuriating to her”.
”I told her what transpired in her office was exactly what I communicated, and then you are blaming me. All of a sudden she demanded that I should leave her office. Honestly I was seriously embarrassed,” he said.
“Only to go back to the VC secretary, I was being turned up, come back today, come back tomorrow. I ended up without no response up till date. They did not respond to my letter.
“The university has just denied her the opportunity to be in school. I know my daughter has a problem but she had every opportunity up till today.”
When contacted by PREMIUM TIMES, the Vice Chancellor of the university, Blessing Didia, said he had never heard of Ms. Ottah’s case.
“The matter happened in January as you said. I came from the University of Port Harcourt to become VC here in August,” Mr. Didia, a professor of medicine said. “This is the first time I have heard about the case.”
When asked whether he would review the case now that he is aware, Mr. Didia said, “They don’t admit deaf and dumb here. And if what you said really happened, the vice chancellor then must have seen reasons why she could not be taught here.”
Efforts to reach the school’s Registrar were unsuccessful and an e-mail sent to the school’s official mail address was not replied.
Ms. Ottah said she had remained at home since her dismissal – weeping over her misfortune and praying – while her friends are now in 200 level in the school.
“I never thought that Rivers State University of Science can send me away like this,” she said.
“Discrimination needs to stop. Everyone has the right to be educated no matter the conditions one is facing.”
The International Ford Fellowships Alumni Association Nigeria (IFFPAN), which first brought the student’s ordeal to the attention of this newspaper, has condemned the action of the University.
Speaking through its president, Faruk Sarkinfada, a professor, it said, “It is regrettable that a University in Nigeria in the 21st century can discriminate against any citizen on account of her disability.
“Her right to Education has been breached. The aspect of her life that must be telling her she is not wanted in our society will unfortunately impact negatively on her whole being.
“The university should review its decision and reinstate her, so that she can acquire tertiary education like her contemporaries.”i believe everything will work out well...
DISABLED PEOPLE WHO MADE A DIFFERENCE!
1. 569–475BC – Pythagoras
2. 100-44BC – Julius Caesar
3. 1608–1674 – Milton
4. 1755-1794 - George Couthon
5. 1770- 1827 – Ludwig van Beethoven
6. 1788-1824 - Lord Byron
7. 1809-1852 – Louis Braille
8. 1821-1881 – Dostoevsky
9. 1849-1908 – Tom Wiggins
10. 1864-1901 – Toulouse Lautrec
11. 1873-1956 – W.C.Handy
12. 1879-1955 – Albert Einstein
13. 1888-1945 – Franklin D. Roosevelt
14. 1880-1968 – Helen Keller
15. 1895-1965 – Dorothea Lange
16. 1907-1954 – Frida Kahlo
17. 1930- - Blind Boys of Alabama
18. 1932-1981 – Christy Brown
19. 1937-1979 – Paul Hunt
20. 1938- - Vic Finkelstien
21. 1939- - Anne Pridmore
22. 1942- - Stephen Hawking
23. 1945- - Itzhak Perlman
24. 1947- - David Blunkett
25. 1948- - Richard Rieser
26. 1950- - Stevie Wonder
27. 1950- - Micheline Mason
28. 1950- - Dr Paddy Ladd
29. 1953- - Nabil Shaban
30. 1959 – Jane Campbell
31. 1963 – Mat Fraser
32 1965- - Alison Lapper
33. 1966 - Evelyn Glennie
34. 1968 - Heather Mills
35. 1969 – Tanni Grey Thompson
36. 1972- - Ade Adepatian
37. 1974 - Julie Fernandez
38. 1980s - Direct Action Network
39. 1986- - Heart ‘n’ Soul Theatre
& Music Group
40. 1981 – Francesca Martinez
41. 1984– - Gareth Gates
42. 1985- - Maresa Mackeith
43. 1986- - Anthony Ford
Zephania
45. 1990 Bethany Hamilton
----------------------------------------------------------------
SHOCKING: Rivers University expels student for having “speech and hearing challenges”
-PremiumTimes
The student opened the letter she was clutching in her hands and felt the walls around her crumble.
As Jane Ottah stood outside her departmental office at the Rivers State University of Science and Technology, the reality of what she had just read began to gradually sink in.
“What I saw in the letter was the shock of my life,” said Ms. Ottah, 28, who was in her first year in the Department of Educational Foundation.
“This was a thing I will never believe, this was the one thing that could have taken away my life if it wasn’t for the help of my friends who were there when I was about to faint.”
On January 30, 2015, the university terminated Ms. Ottah’s admission over claims of speech and hearing challenges.
“I am directed to state that during your recent medical examination in the Health Services Department, it was observed that you are medically challenged and have hearing and speech difficulties,” read the letter signed by C.M Ewhorlu, Principal Assistant Registrar (Senate) of the university.
“I am further directed to state that as a result of these difficulties our team of medical personnel found it impossible to communicate with you.
“Since the University does not have special communication facilities, the Vice-Chancellor has directed that you be de-registered on health grounds. I am in the circumstance, directed to inform you that you have been de-registered on health grounds with immediate effect.
“You are therefore advised to hand over all University property(ies) in your possession to your Head of Department and thereafter leave the campus.”
A ‘Special’ Student?
Despite the university’s claims that she was a special student, Ms. Ottah insisted she had no such challenges.
After initially applying to study Business Administration at the university, Ms. Ottah was offered an admission to read Educational Foundations in September 2014.
When the school reopened a month later, she joined other fresh students for the admission formalities, which included a medical check-up at the institution’s medical centre.
“As soon as I went there and I was asked what is wrong with my voice, I told the doctor that I have a voice problem, that I can talk but at times my voice is somehow,” Ms. Ottah told PREMIUM TIMES during a Whatsapp chat.
“I was not with my hearing aid the day I went there., and she (the doctor) didn’t understand me very well but the other younger doctor was there as well who was asking me questions about what happened to my voice and I decided to tell her about my hearing problem as well.
“And she asked me some questions like how did it happened and I told her. She seemed to understand me a bit but the elder doctor didn’t.
“And she asked about my eyes just because I was putting on glasses. And I told her that I do have eyes problem and she checked my eyes and put it down on a book.
”And she asked me if I was sick as a kid because of my hearing loss. I told her no. It just happened in a way that one can’t tell.
“So she asked about my secondary school, if it was a deaf school. I told her no, it’s not a deaf school I went to.”
According to her West African Examination Council result made available to PREMIUM TIMES, Ms. Ottah finished from Hallel College in Rumuogba, Port Harcourt, with three distinctions and five credits.
At the university medical centre, Ms. Ottah said she overheard the doctors discussing the possibility of her coping with the academic rigours.
“From that day, nothing was bad. I was busy with assignment, project, test, and planning for my first semester exams in February,” she said.
The school went on Christmas break on December 22, 2014, and resumed on January 5th, 2015.
Everything seemed fine for Ms. Ottah.
Until the first semester examination began.
“On the first paper, there was a paper that the lecturer will give you to sign if your name is there, and if you see your name on the list you have to sign there and I did mine,” she said.
Ms. Ottah said she signed against her name during her second and third papers.
However, on the day of the fourth paper, trouble surfaced.
“I didn’t see my name on the list to sign and I was worried that I asked my course mate and she direct me to go to the ICT centre to check,” she said.
“I went there with two of my course mates and we were told that they couldn’t find my name on the list but my name was there and that they couldn’t see the course I requested, and I was told it was from the medical centre. They blocked me from there.
“And I went with my course mate and met with the doctor, crying with a shaky voice which made her not to understand what I was talking about and I decided to call my friend to speak on my behalf. For example, I will talk to her and she will tell them what I am saying.
”As soon as we were done talking, the doctor said she once one told me that day I was in her office that I should come the other day but I didn’t. I was so busy that I forget about it. She sent me to my Department Office.”
It was at the Department Office that a lady delivered the letter which bore the shattering news to Ms. Ottah.
“In school, no one ever knew about my hearing problem, it was just my voice they knew,” she said.
Embarrassed dad
Benedict Ottah, her father, described the letter as a “serious embarrassment”.
“I drove to the school, met the HOD, unfortunately, she didn’t attend to me in a way that she should,” Mr. Ottah told PREMIUM TIMES over the telephone.
“And I put up a letter demanding her (his daughter’s) instant recall. They refused. All of a sudden the HOD sent me back to the Medical Board. Only to be informed by the Medical Board that I should write a letter to the VC.
“I later wrote a letter to the VC, copied the Medical Board, the HOD, and the registrar who wrote the letter.”
In his letter to the Vice Chancellor, Mr. Ottah appealed for his daughter’s re-registration, noting that she had been taking her lectures and doing her class assignments without stress or complaints.
“I wish to state that on 2nd March, 2015, in the office of the HOD of Technical and Science Educational Foundations, Jane Ihuoma Ottah demonstrated clearly to the witness of the HOD her hearing and responding ability different from what was stated in the above letter,” Mr. Ottah wrote in the letter dated 2nd March, 2015.
“This demonstration was made possible while she wore her hearing aids. The same demonstration repeated again when she was referred to meet the Medical Director, Medical Services on same 2nd March 2015 in the office of the Medical Director himself.
“However, Jane Ihuoma Ottah did not attend the medical observation with her hearing, ear-aids the day she was scheduled. Furthermore, I wish the Medical Services may conduct another examination that she should be allowed to use her hearing aids. I am optimistic that this report will be put to rest.”
About two weeks after he wrote to the university, Mr. Ottah said he returned to the school only to be told by the head of her daughter’s department that the letter was “infuriating to her”.
”I told her what transpired in her office was exactly what I communicated, and then you are blaming me. All of a sudden she demanded that I should leave her office. Honestly I was seriously embarrassed,” he said.
“Only to go back to the VC secretary, I was being turned up, come back today, come back tomorrow. I ended up without no response up till date. They did not respond to my letter.
“The university has just denied her the opportunity to be in school. I know my daughter has a problem but she had every opportunity up till today.”
When contacted by PREMIUM TIMES, the Vice Chancellor of the university, Blessing Didia, said he had never heard of Ms. Ottah’s case.
“The matter happened in January as you said. I came from the University of Port Harcourt to become VC here in August,” Mr. Didia, a professor of medicine said. “This is the first time I have heard about the case.”
When asked whether he would review the case now that he is aware, Mr. Didia said, “They don’t admit deaf and dumb here. And if what you said really happened, the vice chancellor then must have seen reasons why she could not be taught here.”
Efforts to reach the school’s Registrar were unsuccessful and an e-mail sent to the school’s official mail address was not replied.
Ms. Ottah said she had remained at home since her dismissal – weeping over her misfortune and praying – while her friends are now in 200 level in the school.
“I never thought that Rivers State University of Science can send me away like this,” she said.
“Discrimination needs to stop. Everyone has the right to be educated no matter the conditions one is facing.”
The International Ford Fellowships Alumni Association Nigeria (IFFPAN), which first brought the student’s ordeal to the attention of this newspaper, has condemned the action of the University.
Speaking through its president, Faruk Sarkinfada, a professor, it said, “It is regrettable that a University in Nigeria in the 21st century can discriminate against any citizen on account of her disability.
“Her right to Education has been breached. The aspect of her life that must be telling her she is not wanted in our society will unfortunately impact negatively on her whole being.
“The university should review its decision and reinstate her, so that she can acquire tertiary education like her contemporaries.”i believe everything will work out well...
Friday, 4 December 2015
FG to facilitate passage of Disability Bill
By NAN on December 3, 2015 5:36 pm
Hajiya Jummai Alhassan, the Minister of Women Affairs
and Social Development, on Thursday, said Federal
Government was working toward actualising the passage of
the Nigerian Disability Bill.
She made the disclosure in Abuja on Thursday at an event
to mark the International Day of Persons with Disabilities
with the theme “Inclusion Matters: Access and
Empowerment for people of All Abilities.’’
The theme was geared towards empowering people with
disability as part of maintaining the sustainable development
goal agenda.
She said disability was one of the major challenges that
continually threatened human existence and the attainment
of meaningful development, noting that marking the day
was a wakeup call toward ensuring domestication of the law
in Nigeria.
She explained that the UN conventions on the rights of
persons with Disabilities by Nigeria in 2007 and 2010 were
geared toward the development, care and welfare of persons
with disabilities.
The minister also said that the aim of the call was to awaken
UN member states toward encouraging and promoting
activities that would ensure interaction, mainstreaming and
empowerment of persons with disabilities.
“It was also meant to promote the understanding of
disability issues and stimulate support for dignity,
empowerment, among others.
She then urged the society to assist and empower people
with disabilities, especially in the areas of job creation,
health, nutrition, education as well as social protection.
She said “it is only when people are empowered that they
can prepare to take advantage of opportunities and become
agents of change and can more readily embrace their civic
responsibilities.’’
Mrs Binta Bello, the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of
Women Affairs and Social Development, said the objective
of the day was to create awareness, promote understanding
of disability issues and mobilise support for dignity and
rights of persons with disabilities.
Bello, who gave an estimated number of 19 million
Nigerians living with disabilities, noted that it was an area
that must be given adequate attention.
The permanent secretary urged stakeholders to work out
plans toward meeting the needs of such persons, adding that
budgetary allocations could not shoulder all their needs.
She called for advocacy, sponsorship of public
enlightenment workshops on the plight of persons with
disabilities, as well as capacity building in information
technology, among others.
“It is also important to provide some of them with braille
presses/libraries with modern braille gadgets and get
sponsored for economic empowerment programmes.’’
She said the Ministry of Women Affairs had recruited some
persons with disabilities into Federal Civil Service and had
created disability desks in the office of the head of civil
service of the federation, among others.
She urged the private sector and other stakeholders to key
into the ministry’s programmes to guarantee the rights and
privileges and ensure an enabling environment for persons
with disabilities.
Mr Dennis Okoro , the Director, MTN Foundation, said
taking care of persons with disabilities was part of the
sustainable development goals.
He said MTN Foundation had given scholarships to 421
blind students to any school of their choice to empower
them and paid N200,000 tuition fees per session to some
disabled students.
He said the Foundation had committed N120 million to the
scheme with the aim of supporting their education.
Mr David Anyale, the Executive Director, Centre for
Citizens with Disabilities, urgedthe Federal Government to
pass into law the Disability Bill.
He said “whenever a part of a person’s body is lost, money,
economic, as well as social status is lost.”
He also urged the Federal Government to evolve measures
in the areas of transportation, information, communication
to assist such persons.
By NAN on December 3, 2015 5:36 pm
Hajiya Jummai Alhassan, the Minister of Women Affairs
and Social Development, on Thursday, said Federal
Government was working toward actualising the passage of
the Nigerian Disability Bill.
She made the disclosure in Abuja on Thursday at an event
to mark the International Day of Persons with Disabilities
with the theme “Inclusion Matters: Access and
Empowerment for people of All Abilities.’’
The theme was geared towards empowering people with
disability as part of maintaining the sustainable development
goal agenda.
She said disability was one of the major challenges that
continually threatened human existence and the attainment
of meaningful development, noting that marking the day
was a wakeup call toward ensuring domestication of the law
in Nigeria.
She explained that the UN conventions on the rights of
persons with Disabilities by Nigeria in 2007 and 2010 were
geared toward the development, care and welfare of persons
with disabilities.
The minister also said that the aim of the call was to awaken
UN member states toward encouraging and promoting
activities that would ensure interaction, mainstreaming and
empowerment of persons with disabilities.
“It was also meant to promote the understanding of
disability issues and stimulate support for dignity,
empowerment, among others.
She then urged the society to assist and empower people
with disabilities, especially in the areas of job creation,
health, nutrition, education as well as social protection.
She said “it is only when people are empowered that they
can prepare to take advantage of opportunities and become
agents of change and can more readily embrace their civic
responsibilities.’’
Mrs Binta Bello, the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of
Women Affairs and Social Development, said the objective
of the day was to create awareness, promote understanding
of disability issues and mobilise support for dignity and
rights of persons with disabilities.
Bello, who gave an estimated number of 19 million
Nigerians living with disabilities, noted that it was an area
that must be given adequate attention.
The permanent secretary urged stakeholders to work out
plans toward meeting the needs of such persons, adding that
budgetary allocations could not shoulder all their needs.
She called for advocacy, sponsorship of public
enlightenment workshops on the plight of persons with
disabilities, as well as capacity building in information
technology, among others.
“It is also important to provide some of them with braille
presses/libraries with modern braille gadgets and get
sponsored for economic empowerment programmes.’’
She said the Ministry of Women Affairs had recruited some
persons with disabilities into Federal Civil Service and had
created disability desks in the office of the head of civil
service of the federation, among others.
She urged the private sector and other stakeholders to key
into the ministry’s programmes to guarantee the rights and
privileges and ensure an enabling environment for persons
with disabilities.
Mr Dennis Okoro , the Director, MTN Foundation, said
taking care of persons with disabilities was part of the
sustainable development goals.
He said MTN Foundation had given scholarships to 421
blind students to any school of their choice to empower
them and paid N200,000 tuition fees per session to some
disabled students.
He said the Foundation had committed N120 million to the
scheme with the aim of supporting their education.
Mr David Anyale, the Executive Director, Centre for
Citizens with Disabilities, urgedthe Federal Government to
pass into law the Disability Bill.
He said “whenever a part of a person’s body is lost, money,
economic, as well as social status is lost.”
He also urged the Federal Government to evolve measures
in the areas of transportation, information, communication
to assist such persons.
Thursday, 3 December 2015
My people be very careful these days. This
happened to me yesterday night when I returned
home from owerri. My face oooooooh. I can't
believe what just happened to me. Wonders shall
never cease to end. I was standing in front of the
entrance of my house, about opening the door so
as to go in, then one woman came and told me
that she knew me, that she has met me before.
So I was like I can't recall where and when I met
you, anyways please remind me. Then the woman
said she that she had met in conference in Asaba
Delta state, in February to be precisely....Oooops!
Madam I was in Accra-Ghana all through
February to April...that was my reply. Before I
could complete the statement, I heard "TAWAI-
TAWAI", a very hot slap on my face, if the
temperature of the slap was to be measured, it
will be around 200•c. I felt so confused, at first I
thought it was coming from a military man, I
looked behind her to see if there was another
person, but there was none. I tried to ask her
what I've done, I was trying to apologise, sorry
ma for not recalling your name. 'Tawaii!, the hot
slap came to the second one! I couldn't bear it
anylonger, I regretted not releasing my dogs in the
morning. I held the stupid woman's hair and
started pulling it as I'm pulling your leg now......
Kaaaiiii, una too like gist ooooo, see as una dey
serious dey read am....just wanted to say good
Afternoon
We shall all witness 2016 in happy
mood.
happened to me yesterday night when I returned
home from owerri. My face oooooooh. I can't
believe what just happened to me. Wonders shall
never cease to end. I was standing in front of the
entrance of my house, about opening the door so
as to go in, then one woman came and told me
that she knew me, that she has met me before.
So I was like I can't recall where and when I met
you, anyways please remind me. Then the woman
said she that she had met in conference in Asaba
Delta state, in February to be precisely....Oooops!
Madam I was in Accra-Ghana all through
February to April...that was my reply. Before I
could complete the statement, I heard "TAWAI-
TAWAI", a very hot slap on my face, if the
temperature of the slap was to be measured, it
will be around 200•c. I felt so confused, at first I
thought it was coming from a military man, I
looked behind her to see if there was another
person, but there was none. I tried to ask her
what I've done, I was trying to apologise, sorry
ma for not recalling your name. 'Tawaii!, the hot
slap came to the second one! I couldn't bear it
anylonger, I regretted not releasing my dogs in the
morning. I held the stupid woman's hair and
started pulling it as I'm pulling your leg now......
Kaaaiiii, una too like gist ooooo, see as una dey
serious dey read am....just wanted to say good
Afternoon
We shall all witness 2016 in happy
mood.
My people be very careful these days. This
happened to me yesterday night when I returned
home from owerri. My face oooooooh. I can't
believe what just happened to me. Wonders shall
never cease to end. I was standing in front of the
entrance of my house, about opening the door so
as to go in, then one woman came and told me
that she knew me, that she has met me before.
So I was like I can't recall where and when I met
you, anyways please remind me. Then the woman
said she that she had met in conference in Asaba
Delta state, in February to be precisely....Oooops!
Madam I was in Accra-Ghana all through
February to April...that was my reply. Before I
could complete the statement, I heard "TAWAI-
TAWAI", a very hot slap on my face, if the
temperature of the slap was to be measured, it
will be around 200•c. I felt so confused, at first I
thought it was coming from a military man, I
looked behind her to see if there was another
person, but there was none. I tried to ask her
what I've done, I was trying to apologise, sorry
ma for not recalling your name. 'Tawaii!, the hot
slap came to the second one! I couldn't bear it
anylonger, I regretted not releasing my dogs in the
morning. I held the stupid woman's hair and
started pulling it as I'm pulling your leg now......
Kaaaiiii, una too like gist ooooo, see as una dey
serious dey read am....just wanted to say good
Afternoon
We shall all witness 2016 in happy
mood.
happened to me yesterday night when I returned
home from owerri. My face oooooooh. I can't
believe what just happened to me. Wonders shall
never cease to end. I was standing in front of the
entrance of my house, about opening the door so
as to go in, then one woman came and told me
that she knew me, that she has met me before.
So I was like I can't recall where and when I met
you, anyways please remind me. Then the woman
said she that she had met in conference in Asaba
Delta state, in February to be precisely....Oooops!
Madam I was in Accra-Ghana all through
February to April...that was my reply. Before I
could complete the statement, I heard "TAWAI-
TAWAI", a very hot slap on my face, if the
temperature of the slap was to be measured, it
will be around 200•c. I felt so confused, at first I
thought it was coming from a military man, I
looked behind her to see if there was another
person, but there was none. I tried to ask her
what I've done, I was trying to apologise, sorry
ma for not recalling your name. 'Tawaii!, the hot
slap came to the second one! I couldn't bear it
anylonger, I regretted not releasing my dogs in the
morning. I held the stupid woman's hair and
started pulling it as I'm pulling your leg now......
Kaaaiiii, una too like gist ooooo, see as una dey
serious dey read am....just wanted to say good
Afternoon
We shall all witness 2016 in happy
mood.
The disability Bill scaled sending reading in Senate Wednesday.
The Bill sponsored by Senator Francis Alimikhena (Edo North) seeks to
ensure full integration of persons with disability into the larger society.
It made provision for the education, health care and protection of the
social, economic and civil rights of persons with disability.
Alimikhena in his lead debate quoted Section 14(2)(b) of the Constitution
which provides that “the security and welfare of the people shall be the
primary purpose of government.
He noted that disability abounds everywhere, from north to south and from
west to east.
The lawmaker said that the bitter truth is that the Senate cannot afford to
be disinterested in the matter because disability may occur at any time in
a man’s life either congenitally, through accident or even by natural
development as one attains old age.
He asked the Senate to commend the efforts of the 6 and 7 National
Assembly which culminated in the passage of the disability Bill but
unfortunately did not receive presidential assent.
He said that passage of the Bill is the surest and most potent way of
ensuring compliance with international best practices in the treatment and
relation with persons living with disability.
Alimikhena who quoted the World Health Organisation, said that 20 million
Nigerians are living with disability which makes them the largest minority
group in the country.
He said, “They have the highest rate of unemployment, poverty and have
the lowest level of educaeducationaltion among any minority group.
The Bill sponsored by Senator Francis Alimikhena (Edo North) seeks to
ensure full integration of persons with disability into the larger society.
It made provision for the education, health care and protection of the
social, economic and civil rights of persons with disability.
Alimikhena in his lead debate quoted Section 14(2)(b) of the Constitution
which provides that “the security and welfare of the people shall be the
primary purpose of government.
He noted that disability abounds everywhere, from north to south and from
west to east.
The lawmaker said that the bitter truth is that the Senate cannot afford to
be disinterested in the matter because disability may occur at any time in
a man’s life either congenitally, through accident or even by natural
development as one attains old age.
He asked the Senate to commend the efforts of the 6 and 7 National
Assembly which culminated in the passage of the disability Bill but
unfortunately did not receive presidential assent.
He said that passage of the Bill is the surest and most potent way of
ensuring compliance with international best practices in the treatment and
relation with persons living with disability.
Alimikhena who quoted the World Health Organisation, said that 20 million
Nigerians are living with disability which makes them the largest minority
group in the country.
He said, “They have the highest rate of unemployment, poverty and have
the lowest level of educaeducationaltion among any minority group.
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