TQM reach out,

We received a very disturbing story of a boy with albinism who is suffering from skin cancer. What is more disturbing is that from the video we got, some effort has been made to get this young man assisted where the media also covered and the public were reached but the family could not received assistance but the young man is dying, our question is that do we allow this promising young man to die when we know we can help to save his life with a token of 5million naira.

We wish to use our medium to appeal to well Nigerians to come and save the life of this boy, If not for anything but for the sake of Almighty God, lets help him.

His name is Abdulganiu Muhammed, he is Igala by tribe from Anyigba in Dekina Local Government area of Kogi state, he has been battling a serious cancer problem which is very close to his brain that can not be treated here in Nigeria, over 5million naira is needed for his surgery abroad and the family members has been looking for this money for months now and the pains is increasing on daily basis and it may kill him if it is not treated soonest.

Please for more enquiry and financial assistance, contact his Uncle (Dauda Yakubu) on 08077125822 or donate into the account of the uncle who has been moving around working to save the life of this little innocent boy.

The account where you can donate is Acc name: Dauda Yakubu, Acc number:
0033549177, Stanbic IBTC

We call on the public as a thanksgiving to God for keeping us till this end of year, reach out and save the life of this promising and innocent young boy.

Watch the Video of the boy at a press Conference:

A few days back, the world commemorated a day for People With Disabilities. The commemoration refreshed my personal interaction with some school children on their awareness of physical disabilities. I remember in 2018, I was invited by a school to speak to the nursery children about people with disabilities. I started by asking how they felt people with disabilities should be helped. The first response was ‘by giving them money’. Then came other responses like, ‘by being kind to them’, ‘by helping them to cross the road,’ etc. The children clearly believed the best way to help persons with disabilities was to have pity on them. This mindset is also ingrained in us as adults. After pity, we often think of doctors, specialist, therapists, special schools and even miracle performers can get them corrected again. This is known as the Medical Model.

This article is not to totally condemn pity and medical assistance. Money and resources have been spent and will continue to be spent on science and medical research that will get people with disabilities condition corrected. Governments and civil societies should continue to dedicate funds to treatments, wheelchairs, special schools, crafts centers to help them improve with their situation.

However, we cannot continue to focus on their impairment at the expense of many other abilities and potential they have. In our minds, the impairment they suffer from is the source of their problems and what prevents them from being corrected. Therefore, we continue to build and organize the society for people without disabilities thereby disabling them from being fully part of the society and making them depend on us for almost everything.

We can really make life better for persons with disabilities by making the society inclusive such that they will be active in the society and live as independently as possible. This is known as the Social Model. This can only happen if the environment, spaces and surroundings are designed and organized in such a way that they can access them independently. Below are four basic steps needed for this to happen:

One, access as a right should be enforced: Nigeria signed the United Nation’s Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) as far back as 2007. It has the Right to Accessibility as one of its principles. The Disability bill was finally passed into law in January 2019. However enforcing it is what will really make us pay attention to Disability Access. Disability organizations may picket a bank here or a shopping mall there, but unless access plans are part and parcel of project approval, persons with disabilities will remain at our mercy.

Two, adopt and include access standards: The National Building Code and State Planning Laws focus on wheelchair access whereas disability access includes hearing-impaired, sight-impaired and even intellectual disabilities. Comprehensive access standards have been developed through years of research and experimentation. Today, many countries and international organizations have access guidelines that we can adopt. Standards are also important in getting the details right so that we don’t end up building ramps that are too steep, walkways that are too narrow or providing information that is not legible, etc.

Three, involve them: Through involvement of persons with disabilities in the design, construction and organization of accessible spaces and environments, we can gain experiential knowledge about access and not just blindly stick to standards. Through involvement, we get to see what really works, what doesn’t and if there are better ways to provide solutions.

Four, make access solutions inclusive: this is known as universal design whereby the solutions provided for the disabled can be comfortably used by everyone else rather than having separate solutions. Providing ramped entrances at the side or back of a building is better than nothing. However it makes them feel less stigmatized if they use the same entrance, facilities as everyone else. A good example is the BRT buses that come with low floor boarding which is comfortable for everyone.

With these basic steps, we can make it easier for persons with disabilities to go to school, work, and move around the society for basic needs like shopping, recreation and health. They can live comfortably in houses and safely perform basic chores like cleaning, cooking and bathing. The more we see them every day, as fellow students, colleagues, customers, clients, the less we focus on their impairments and accept them as they are.

Lateefah Teniola, AIMS Media Limited

From Yinka Adeniran, Ibadan

Oyo State Government has put on hold the ongoing recruitment  of People With Disabilities (PWDs) into the Teaching Service Commission (TESCOM).

The decision followed yesterday’s protest by PWDs, who stormed the Agodi Secretariat, protesting alleged injustice in the allotted recruitment slots given to them.

The protesters, under the aegis of Coalition of Disability Groups in Oyo State, who carried placards and sang songs expressing rejection of alleged injustices done to them by the government, blocked vehicular and human movements in and out of the secretariat.

The situation led to traffic jam around the axis, as workers and people who came to the secretariat for early morning business were stranded.

The government had approved the appointment of 200 applicants with disabilities out of 10,600 teaching and non-teaching jobs for public schools.

The Nation

By Abayomi Adeshida, ABUJA

Speaker House of Representatives, Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila will provide legislative support through the recently inaugurated House Standing Committee on Disability Matters, work with the Nigerians Disability Commission to reduce the challenges faced by persons with a disability, especially mobility and accessibility of all public structures across the country so they can contribute to nation-building.

Special Adviser to the Speaker House of Representatives on Special Needs/Equal Opportunities Barrister Idowu Kamaldeen spoke in Abuja during a virtual parley and stakeholders consultations on the proper take-off of the Nigerians with Disabilities Commission as seven of the eight members of the Commission are to be screened by the National Assembly today in Abuja. According to the Nigerians With Disability law, only the Executive Secretary, Mr. James Lalu is exempted from appearing before the Senate for screening, but he can only start to function in his official capacity after the screening and confirmation of the other members of the Commission.

According to him, ” access to public buildings and travelling by the Disabled community in Nigeria has been a challenge that has slowed down our productivity and it is affecting our contributions to national development.

” When a candidate with disability gets to a prospective employer whose office is located on the top floors of the building, the person with disability is denied the spot just because of the extra effort it would require him to get to the office to work, even if he offers to suffer the trouble it would take because he is qualified and he really wants to use his certificate to work.

” As an undergraduate at the University of Lagos, I had to ride on roller skates that beggars use on the streets on campus and because many of our lectures were done upstairs, I had no choice than to crawl there so I could complete my degree. So, after two degrees, it would be a very heartless decision for anyone to deprive someone like myself of employment.

” As a lawyer, it is a pity that I go to many of our courts where they construct staircases and elevators and when we go to work in such courts, we are told that we can use the elevator. I once had to ask what happens if the elevator is faulty or there is power failure, how does the disabled person cope?

“It is regrettable that after many times that I have had to fight to be boarded at airports, I usually get cold shoulders because the airlines are mostly not prepared with Porters who would use wheelchairs to ferry the disabled to board the aircraft.

“So when travelling, I am expected to buy an additional ticket for an aide throughout the journey without any provision to cover the extra costs from anywhere. That frustration has made me stop travelling by air since the beginning of this year and I have had to choose to take the risks of travelling the long distances across the country by road anytime I have official functions to carry out.

“With the inauguration of the Disability Committee last week, the Speaker has demonstrated his willingness to do all it takes to bring his international experience to bare on the legal solution to the plight of the persons with disability in NIgeria, the emerging synergy between the House Committee and the Commission would go a long way to put things right for the disabled community to also contribute their quota to nation-building.

” As the aviation community is celebrating the international civil aviation day 2020 with the theme Advancing Innovation for Global Aviation Development on the same day the nominated members of the Nigerians Disability Commission would be undergoing a legislative screening process, we expect that the aviation sector would lend us a hand and make air travelling for people with disability in Nigeria less challenging,” Barrister Idowu stated.

Meanwhile, President, Equal Rights for Persons with Disabilities International Incorporation, Chief Eric Ufom in his contribution described the inauguration of the House Standing Committee on Disability as a long leap forward towards the realisation of the implementation of the disability law in Nigeria.

In his words, when we got the news of the inauguration of the Standing Committee on Disability matters in the House or Representatives, ably chaired by Hon. Miriam Odinaka Onuoha, we saw a bright light at the end of the tunnel that we have travelled for over thirty years of advocacy for the domestication of the UN Charter on the rights of persons with disabilities which Nigeria ratified over twenty years ago.

“The journey has been rough but we are glad that we are coasting home to the right way that things are being done and we expect that the benefits of the UN Convention on the Rights of Nigerians with disabilities would soon begin to manifest in the country.

” After our key participation in many Civil Society Conferences of the State Parties to the Convention of the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, we were well tooled with the right understanding of what the world disability movement wants to address, we, therefore, made it a duty to our country and humanity to make contributions towards the amendment of the 1999 Constitution and wrote to advise both Chambers of the National Assembly to establish their Standing Committees on Disability.

” While we are glad to see the House Committee in place, we wish to implore the Senate President, Senator Ahmed Lawan to also constitute the Senate Committee on Disability to pave a way for the birthing of a joint National Assembly Committee on Disability which would be a legacy the current leadership of the Legislative arm of government can leave for the persons with disability in Nigeria.

“The establishment of the Nigeria Disability Commission is a good development for which we congratulate all the actors that saw into its establishment as well as the pioneer members of the Commission and the House Committee on Disability. We would continue to give progress reports to our development partners globally and through the Joint National Association of Persons with Disabilities JONAPWD, at home, we would put everything in place to commence the next stage of the domestication of the UN Charter as a law in Nigeria by commencing the proper training of those who would work with us so that we can take off properly without any further delay.

The Senate Monday called on the Federal Government to fund the newly established National Commission for Persons with Disabilities ( NCPD) .

The Upper Legislative chamber which made the call through its Committee on Sports , Youth and Social Development during screening of nominees for the position of Chairman and members of the board of the Commission , said adequate funding of the Commission, will help in the practical activation of inherent abilities in persons with disabilities (PWDs) .

Specifically the Chairman of the Committee, Senator Obinna Ogba ( PDP Ebonyi Central) in his remarks said it is one thing for government to set up the commission through bill passed to that effect by the National Assembly , but another thing for the commission to be adequately funded in achieving the purpose for which it was set up for .

” We thank the executive for setting up the National Commission for Persons with Disabilities and nominating persons to run it , but putting such intervention mechanism in place without required funding , will defeat the purpose for which it was established .

” On our own part here in the Senate and by extension , the National Assembly , having through legislation , facilitated the establishment of the commission , we shall at any given time , make required appropriation for effective and efficient functioning of the commission.

“It is a welcome development that appointments of nominees into the commission are being screened four days after the International Day for Persons with Disabilities mark on December 3rd on yearly basis”, he said .

He however admonished the Screened nominees to remember their co- protesters in the past by carrying them along in the scheme of things .

“Mr Chairman – Designate and the Six members , please after confirmation by the Senate Tuesday or Wednesday this week, remember to use the commission to take care of interests of the disabled , particularly those who were with you in the trenches during the protests; era”, he said .

Those screened and designated for confirmation as nominated by President Buhari , are Hon ( Dr) Hussaini Suleiman Kangiwa as Chairman from North West, Oparaku Onyejelam Jaja as member from South East and Philomena Isioma Konwea from South -South as member .

Others are Omopariola Busuyi Oluwasola as member from South West, Amina Rahma Audu as member from North West , Esther Andrew Awu as member from North Central and Abba Audu Ibrahim as member from North East.

Olufemi Olaniyi, Ibadan

Many persons with disabilities from some local government areas in Oyo State have stormed the state secretariat at Agodi in protest, demanding to be given more non-teaching jobs by the Oyo State Teaching Service Commission.

The protest which started in the morning caused gridlock on the roads around the area, forcing some motorists to make detour and found alternative routes to their destinations.

The protesters called on Governor Seyi Makinde to intervene in the employment issue, saying out of the 350 slots promised them.

They said their members were given 149 slots.

One of protesters, Segun Adeoye, said, “We are here today protesting because we were shortchanged in employment by TESCOM.

“Our members were given 149 slots instead of 350 we were promised. That is why we want to call the attention of Governor Makinde to please intervene in the issue.”

The Commissioner for Information in the state, Dr Wasiu Olatubosun, did not pick the calls placed to his telephone by our correspondent when contacted.

By D’yong Mangut.

As part of efforts towards assisting People with Disability, The Minister of Women Affairs and Social Development, Dame Pauline Tallen has donated food and learning materials to the Plateau State School for the Deaf, Bassa.

The food and learning materials donated by the Minister was facilitated by the Beautiful Gate Handicapped People Center Jos to aid the school overcome some of it’s challenges.

Speaking during the presentation of the items at the school premises, Chief Ayuba Burki Gufwan, the Director of Beautiful Gate Handicapped People Center stated that the minister had assisted various female schools within the state and beyond. He stressed that,
as a mother who is concerned about their welfare, and well-being, she extended the gesture to the School despite not been an all female school due to it’s unique status.

Principal of the School, Mrs Tabitha Silas appreciated Dame Tallen for her kind gesture, pledging the judicious use of the items. She applauded Chief Burki for his consistent show of love and support to the school.

Mrs Manbyen Zingman, PTA Chairperson of the school applauded the Minister and Chief Burki for their untiring efforts towards the school development. She appealed to Chief Burki to use his good office to reach out to the Plateau State Government to come to the aid of the school on perimeter fencing as the students are exposed to various security challenges.

Appreciating the Minister and Chief Burki, Francis Kuzaaman and Angoenar James, head boy and head girl of the School prayed for God’s blessings and protection for the duo.

Items donated by the Minister include, 249 bags of flour, school bags, biros, exercise books, towels, slippers, pencils, sharpeners, rulers, erasers, graph books, math sets, text books, and posters.

More pictures of the presentation

Corporate giantsUnilever, Diageo and Airtel have joined a new private-sector network that champions disability inclusion in the workplace

The Nigeria Business Disability Network  (NBDN) is being launched at an online event[ on Tuesday 8^th December that will include a host of high-profile private companies, international development organisations and government members from across Nigeria. It will enable employers to tap into the pool of diverse skills that people with disabilities can offer the workplace and their supply chain.

As much as 3 to 7 percent of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is lost within middle and low-income-countries as people with disabilities are excluded from the job market, according to ILO estimates.

“We know that employers in Nigeria and beyond want to hire people with disabilities, many are unsure where to start or how to make their company truly inclusive” says Dr Sunday Isiyaku, Country Director Sightsavers Nigeria and Ghana.

“Employing people with disabilities has clear benefits not only for the people employed, but also for businesses. One estimate suggests that there’s a spending power of $8 trillion waiting for businesses who recognise this, and it starts with hiring inclusively.” Ms Busola Alofe, CEO Chartered Institute of Personnel Management adds.

The Nigeria Business Disability Network, an off shoot of the ILO Global Business Disability Network, is an employer – led platform which aims to:

• Foster disability inclusion practices and policies in the workplace
• Build disability confidence of employers
• Build job readiness of people with disabilities

The British Deputy High Commission in Nigeria and country director of the International Labour Organization (ILO) will be attending its launch alongside some of Nigeria’s biggest companies including Access Bank, Mobil and Dangote who are all joining as network members.

With the support of the UK AID initiative – Inclusive Futures, Sightsavers Nigeria is partnering with the Chartered Institute of Personnel Management (CIPM) who serves as the coordinating body for the network in Nigeria. CIPM is the Nigeria’s apex HR body with over 12,000 members.

Through webinars, resources, working groups and peer learning, members will benefit from expert advice and tailored support from disability rights groups to become a disability confident work environment.

One of these resources is a practical ‘disability toolkit’ which is already available to all as an open-source for business leaders, HR managers and property developers. The toolkit gives guidance on how to hire and develop employees with disabilities as well as how to make supply chain inclusive.

For further details contact Rasak Adekoya at Sightsavers on radekoya@sightsavers.org  or +2348034829045.

It was joy, excitement, and praises in the air on Saturday 5^th December, 2020 in Abuja as Barrister Florence Marcus celebrated 32 years of her amputation.

In her emotional speech, she narrated how life was amazing as a child in the midst of lovely parents and family members before fortunately and unexpectedly as she described it happened on 28^th November, 1988.

According to her, that day commenced with a beautiful journey involving her sister with her 3 months son and other passengers in a commercial vehicle travelling from Zaria to Kaduna.

“In as much as I didn’t foresee the accident of November 28^th, I also didn’t imagine another day, December 5^th, 1988. A day that put the first question mark on my little and rising destiny, a day I didn’t see ahead of time, a day that was not in the family health budget, a day that hope became a question. I am talking of one of the faithful days God created.”

She said that December 5^th, 1988 turned out to be the day she had to part with one of her beautiful legs after spending 7 days on hospital bed. It was done on her that her leg was amputated and her identity changed.

As days goes by, hope came alive especially when she encounter Jesus Christ and since then she has seen some beautiful days/moments of her life, days of going to school, days of graduation and the day of her call to bar and many other beautiful days. She came to realize that in the midst of crisis, Chris Jesus will always find way to crown those who believe in him.

She informed that her experience gave birth to an organization known as the Amputee Coalition of Nigeria(ACON) which has become a wonderful platform where other survivors come together to keep hope alive, amplify their voices through advocacy and provide support system to different categories of people in their communities, families and society at large.

She concluded by ascribing the day to God and building hope for all through sharing of inspiring stories, giving thanks to God and keeping the hope alive.

The event also witnessed friends and well-wishers describing Florence as a kind hearted person inspite of her condition, a dogged fighter, a selfless leader, a motivator and many other exciting words used to described Florence in a day she called 32^nd Ampuversary( Celebration of Florence Marcus) Living A life of hope in times of crisis.

Some other amputee shared their experiences as they describe the situation as one that should not pose barrier to anybody.  A lot of amputees have live beyond amputation and they are doing created things and Florence Marcus is a living example so get up that your sorry /pitiable state and get to work.

TQM felicitated with Florence Marcus as she aspire for great things in life.

Some TQM shots at the event

By Chibuzo

Persons with disabilities in Anambra on Sunday, 6th Dec. 2020 ended the activities lined up for this year’s International Day of Persons With Disabilities with a holy mass at St. Patrick’s Cathedral Awka.

The holy mass attracted members of the association across the twenty one local government areas of Anambra state as well as their family members, friends and well wishers.

Among those present during the holy mass are, the Special Adviser to governor Willie Obiano on disability matters, Barr. Chuks Ezewuzie, the Special Assistant to governor Willie Obiano on Sign Language Communities, Mr. Collins Joseph, the Anambra state Chairman, Joint National Association of Persons With Disabilities, Comrade Ugochukwu Okeke among others.

The Catholic Archbishop of Awka diocese, Most Reverend Paulinus Ezeokafor is represented by the cathedral administrator of the diocese, Reverend Father, Mathew Attansey.