TQM report,
Plateau State Disability Commission have made commitment to partner with The Qualitative Magazine (TQM) to adopt their 17 trained correspondents from the 17 Local Government Areas (LGAs) of the State as desk officers.
This was disclosed when TQM team embarked on an advocacy visit to the Commission to share with them the successes and findings of their project ” Connecting our Voices To The World” supported by Voice Nigeria.
The Executive Director, TQM, Agbo Chris Obiora, in his speech said that TQM visited all the local government areas and they found out that a lot of persons with disabilities are not aware of the Commission and what they can benefit from the Commission. He shared the success of the project ranging from those that got mobility aids, those that was enrolled in School, and awareness creation that assisted some persons with disabilities to get jobs and some organizations taking issues of disability inclusion very serious.
He emphasized the need for the Commission to partner with TQM to further discover persons with disabilities in the rural who need intervention even though the project is ending by end of March, 2021.
He informed that there is a lot of them that TQM discovered in the villages and that is why TQM resolved to recruit correspondents as part of sustainability plan of the project so that they will continue with what TQM have started in order to have a system that will always help to amplify the voices of those persons with disabilities who may never had opportunity of speaking to the press in their entire life.
He also thanked the Commission and the entire stakeholders within the disability community in Plateau State for support and encouragement all the project period.
The Secretary of the Commission, Karl Gurunyen, in his response congratulated TQM for a successful project. Speaking further, he said from the day of inception of this project, TQM have kept the ground running and the evidences were all over the place in Plateau State. He said that they are proud of TQM and what they have brought to PWDs in Plateau State.
He expressed concern over those in the hinterlands who does not even know the existence of the Commission and he put it in the door step of the State JONAPWD Executives who should be discovering their members because they have local government chapters, but since TQM is putting in place a system that will help in discovering them. The Commission will partner with TQM and use their correspondents in different LGAs as desk officers who would be reporting cases that need intervention to the commission andalso help the Commission in targeting those that really need to be empowered during their empowered programmes.
He said that TQM have been helping the Commission to carry out some empowerment programmes and he truly appreciate their effort because the Commission is under funded and needs a lot of organizations to come and partner with them for the benefit of persons with disabilities in Plateau State.
He expressed dismay that TQM project is ending saying that a project like this nature that is highly impactful should be allowed to stay longer. He urged Voice Nigeria to extend the project for TQM saying that there are more they can achieve in Plateau State and PWDs in Plateau State are enjoying impact of the project.
The Directors present at the meeting commended TQM and offered hands of fellowship for further partnership and collaboration and they pleaded to TQM to always answer the Commission each time they asked for partnership and collaboration in future.
The ED, accepted to always come around to assist each time, TQM is called upon and also told them that TQM have come to stay in Plateau State.
ED, TQM presented to the Commission, copies of TQM publications under “Connecting Our Voices To The World” project supported by Voice Nigeria.
