Physically-Challenged Support Ohakim

The leader of Imo Disabled Youth Club of Nigeria, Mr Imo, Tony Dike, has pledged the support of the group for Gov. Ikedi Ohakin in the April governorship polls.

Dike said the group would support the governor to show appreciation to him for appointing their patron, Prof. Viola Onwuliri, as his running mate.

He said that many physically challenged persons in the state had benefitted immensely from Onwuliri, and “this is the time for us to show our appreciation to her.” Onwuliri is the wife of the Vice- Chancellor of the Federal University of Technology, Owerri (FUTO), Prof. Celestine Onwuliri.

She was also a lecturer in the institution until her nomination.

Dike said that aside from giving monetary assistance to members of the group individually and collectively, the woman had facilitated the admission of many disabled persons to the university.

He said that the group was excited over Onwuliri’s nomination and hoped that she would “champion our cause if she was elected the deputy governor of the state.

“We know that by the time she becomes the deputy governor, we will no longer embark on street protests or block the Government House road when we want assistance from the state government.

“In the past, the government had not treated us fairly and we never had any sense of belonging and this was why we often marched to the streets to demand for our rights. “Now we know that Onwuliri will protect our interest and also take the case of the disabled to the governor, so we are mobilising our members, numbering 72,000, to vote massively for her ticket in the April election,” Dike said.

He appealed to Christians, particularly Catholics in the state, to “forgive” Ohakim over the assault of Rev. Fr. Eustace Okorie, a Catholic priest, by his aides.

He said “to err is human and to forgive, divine.”

Ohakim had long tendered both private and public apologies to the Catholic community in the state and the Owerri Catholic Archdiocese, in particular, over the incident.