Association Wants Commission For Persons With Disabilities

The Niger Chapter of Spinal Cord Injury Association of Nigeria has appealed to the state government to establish a Commission for Persons with Disabilities.
Chairman of the Association, Malam Usman Nagogo, made the plea in an interview with newsmen in Minna yesterday.
Nagogo said that the proposed commission would be able to address the plight of disabled persons in the state and eradicate street begging.
“We are only being supervised by the state Ministry of Women Affairs and Social Development.
“Even though the ministry is trying its best, we still need a commission of our own that its mandate will be to treat issues affecting persons with disabilities.
“A bill on people with disabilities was passed into law during the previous administration to give us a commission. We want that bill to be reconsidered by the present administration,’’ he said.
Nagogo advised the state government to train members of the association on skills’ acquisition to enable them engage in petty trades to become self-reliant and reduce street begging.
He said that the association was established to minimise street begging, saying that government should make adequate provisions to cater for members of the association to keep them off the streets.
“We need 100 per cent of government’s support to abolish street begging. Government doesn’t want street begging and we are also against such practice.
“Some of our members that were trained in tailoring and other skills by the Ministry of Women Affairs have not been given starter kits to establish themselves,’’ Nagogo said.
He solicited the support of well-to-do individuals and Non- Governmental Organisations (NGOs) to improve the welfare of its members.