The Executive Secretary of the National Commission for Persons with Disabilities, Mr. James Lalu has promised to harmonize different sign languages in Nigeria and develop Nigeria owned sign language for a better understanding of Deaf people in Nigeria.

He disclosed this when he played a special guest at the press conference after a football game organized by Nigerian National Association of the Deaf (NNAD) in commemoration of International Day of Persons with disabilities(IDPD) on Saturday in Abuja.

The recognition of sign language should be the first project of the commission, we will look into the different sign languages, harmonize them to come up with one indigenous sign language, the minister is already aware of it and will help get approval for it, he said .

He also added that sign language is very important in Nigeria because we have over 9 million Deaf people in Nigeria, they can not afford to be neglected and they have contributed immensely to the development of Nigeria.

There are many talents Nigerians with disabilities and as such, they should be carried along in all sphere of life.

He thanked Mr. President for not resting since the inception of COVID-19 and for ensuring that PWDs are mainstreamed in all interventions, he established the National Commission for Persons with disabilities as a follow up to the Act he signed into law early 2019.

He said that the ball is now on our hands (the PWDs) and we need to pay it well by working in unity to achieve our common goals.

He promised that the commission will work with the relevant agencies to ensure that they develop post-COVID-19 programmes for PWDs to continue the good work, the minister of Humanitarian affairs have done in the area of reaching out PWDs during COVID-19.

“Going by the demand by Deaf Community on data collection, the commission is committed to it and have develop modalities for it. It is in the budget of 2021 and it should be done.

He emphasized that the day should be a day PWDs should come together, unite and work together for the good of the community.

“The commission will continue to work with the Federal Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development to break barriers and open doors of opportunities for PwDs.

Earlier at the Press conference , The Vice President, Mohammed Haruna, standing in for the President Hon. Chidi Topaz Olujie, described the day as a day for us to celebrate disability as part of human diversity. he used the opportunity to unveil what they have to offer as an association.

Recognizing that sign language is the primary language of the deaf, their pride, and identity. The deaf need the support of every one including government and corporate world to help and advance their rights at all levels.

Speaking further, he appreciated the President for signing the disability bill into law and also constituting a commission with the boards and appointment of Executive Secretary.

He enlightened the general public of their efforts to ensure “building back better” of the Nigerian Deaf Community as part of their efforts in post COVID=19 world:

Data collection, Employment, Video Relay Services, Training and Empowerment, Official recognition of Nigerian Sign Language among other needs

He called on the support of the government, CSOs, Media, Stakeholders among others to actualize and propagate the advocacy to impact the lives of the Deaf and People with disabilities in general.

Watch videos of the Press Conference

by Chris Agbo

One of the leading disability organizations, Cedar Seed Foundation in collaboration with Africans Young Female Advisers Initiative on 4-5 December, 2020 in Abuja organized 2 days National Consultation on Young Women in Governance and Young women with disabilities Rights as enshrined in the 1999 Constitution and Proposed Women Fair Representation in the Elective and Appointive Positions Bill 2020.

The Founder and CEO of Cedar Seed Foundation, Mrs. Lois Auta Udonkata in her interaction with the Qualitative Magazine (TQM) said that the essence of the program is to include the issues of women  and girls with disabilities(WGWDs) in the Constitution because their issues were not captured in the 1999 constitution.

She said that they are now working with other CSOs such as Africans Young Female Advisers Initiative with support from Actionaid and Global Affairs, Canada to work on the document with the help of consultants like Cynthia Mbamalu and Barrister Funke Nweke to come up with a memo or recommendation that they would be presenting to Federal Ministry of Women and UN Women to assist them take the document to the Presidency and possibly to the National Assembly to fashion it into our laws to enhance the political participation of women and girls with disabilities in accordance with Article 29 of United Nations Convention on the rights of persons with disabilities.

Speaking further, she called on National Assembly to expedite action on the gender equality opportunity bill, ensure that it is passed in both the senate and house representative and transmit to the President for assent because the bill will enhance the opportunity of women in general. Women will enjoy 35 percent affirmative action and 5percent of it would be reserved for women and girls with disabillities. She said that they are demanding 5 percent for now coming to WGWDs.

She strongly believe that this affirmative action would be achieve soon and that’s why she have been organizing capacity building training for WGWDs to encourage them to come into politics because these laws will remove the bottlenecks that hinders their progress in politics.

“Women with disabilities should build political base, participate in Party politics from the grassroots to the state and National level” she counseled.

She revealed that she is going to present herself once again for house of representative come 2023 and urged other women with disabilities to present themselves as well.

The event brought together women with disabilities, women in government and other CSOs and they looked into challenges of women with disabilities in governance and politics, constitution and women’s fair representation bill with emphasis on Young women with disabilities.

by Kenneth Alabaraonye, TQM reporter,

National commission for persons with disabilities (NCPWD) in conjunction with Joint National Association of Persons with Disability (JONAPWD) on Thursday in Abuja celebrated the 2020 international day for person with disability in a grand style as the commission marks its first international day for persons with disabilities the year’s theme “building back better towards a disability-inclusive, accessible and sustainable post COVID- world’’.

The occasion which commenced with the welcome address by the JONAPWD President Mrs. Ekaete Judith Umoh, in her address welcomed all those who found time to attend and stated that JONAPWD is positioned to mobilize support for the dignity and development of persons with disabilities in both demand and supply side.

“As we sit here relaxed and enjoying ourselves is important we reflect the theme of this year’s celebration “building back better towards a disability-inclusive, accessible and sustainable post covid19 by and for persons with disabilities’’ is now left for us to pick this opportunity up to begin to strategies with the government, development partners to see how it can be part of the reconstruction of country post COVID-19 on what is positive for us to enable us gain some milestones” she stated.

Building back better means that as government is beginning to think of interventions post Covid 19 in local government, in your community, it is important to see that we are at the decision making table from the designing stage, so that they will see that we are not just recipients but we are contributing in holistic way in building back Nigeria, she added.

Keep your ears to ground and your eyes open and if you hear of anywhere there is intervention going on, look out to see that is disability incorporated and if is not, it is your responsibility to tell the government that you are here, that is the essence of this celebration to awaken our consciousness and creating awareness amongst ourselves to change as we engage each other constructively and better. So let us begin to think how we can collectively join hands together to build back an inclusive society where persons with disabilities will have the space to contribute to national development.

The Executive Secretary of National Commission of Persons with disabilities (NCPWD) Mr. James Lalu in his speech thanked President Mohammed Buhari for not only passing the Disability law but also for the creation of the Humanitarian ministry and Disability Commission.

He said he was elated to be celebrating this year’s disability day as a commission and not as an individual and further reinstated the commission mandate and commitment to holistically improvement of the lives of PWDs in Nigeria.

Speaking further, he said that the commission is working out the necessary structures to commence operations properly and that the commission has been included in 2021 budgetary allocation of the federal government.

“You have seen the theme of the year’s international day of persons with disabilities is building back better, and you know our people were the most vulnerable during the Covid 19 period especially during the lockdown which really exposed a lot of challenges PWDs are facing and the NCPWD is now looking into all these challenges faced by PWDs in Nigeria to see better ways to address them especially in education, during the lockdown it was very difficult for PWDS to cope with online education. We at the commission are currently working with national assembly, relevant agencies to bring on board good legislations and policies that are disability inclusive to curb all these challenges, he said.

The Director, Rehabilitation, Federal Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development, Mrs. Nkechi Onwukwe who represented the Honorable Minister congratulated the Executive Secretary for the new commission and expressed her happiness, that the day’s celebration was indeed colorful because this is last the one the ministry is going to mark because they are handing over the baton to the commission and she prayed that the commission will accommodate all agitations, clamoring, struggling so far.

On behalf of the minister, she wished James Lalu well and appreciated God for the leadership quality that he possessed, a person of James Lalu who is a versatile person in disability issues and development, so on this note we say bravo. 

This event witnessed drama presentations, panelist’s discussions and other activities that made the colourful.

It was hugely attended by persons with disabilities, their families, friends and caregivers across the country.

SOME PICTURES OF THE EVENT:

By Kenneth Alabaraonye, TQM reporter,

Initiative for Disability Inclusion and Diversity (INCLUDE) in conjuction with National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) carried out a press conference on Thursday, 3^rd December, 2020 in Abuja to commemorate the International Day for Persons with Disabilities (IDPD).

The Executive Secretary ably represented by the Director of Woman, Child and Vulnerable Groups Department, Barrister Harry Ogwuche Obe in his press statement felicitates with the international and local communities of persons with disabilities as the entire world celebrate this year’s disability day. He further said that International Day of Persons with Disabilities is in line with the global efforts at combating the ravaging heath pandemic of COVlD-19’, this year’s theme Building Back Better: toward a disability-inclusive, accessible and sustainable post COVID- 19 World” centres on the road to recovery.

The International Day of Persons with Disabilities (IDPD) which is celebrated every year on 3rd December sets to promote full and equal participation of persons with disabilities (pwds) in all developmental spheres of life thereby limiting any form of discrimination against PWDs as a result of their status. This placed the objective of the day squarely within the mandate of the National Human Rights Commission which is to promote and protect the rights of all including that of persons with disabilities.

Speaking further, he said that there is no doubt that everyone is at risk of COVID 19. Persons with disabilities however, are at greater risks especially those with existing health conditions because of their unique abilities.

The pandemic which has adversely affected the capacity of countries in the area of provision of health care, social protection assurances as well as the entire economy of the world has had a greater impact on PWDs. It has also increased barriers to the actualization of their rights such as their right to health, right to education, right to live in a community among others.

“Furthermore, the locked down had a greater impact on work, income and livelihood of PWDs. The restriction of movement left them inaccessible to food, drugs and essential goods as well as hindered them from carrying out their daily chores such as eating, bathing, cooking, etc for those who require assistance. PWDs therefore require well thought out special protection measures in the area of health care and other specific needs in order to get over their numerous vulnerabilities. He further stated that National Human Rights Institution with the mandate to protect the rights of all, our key priority is to upscale protection for vulnerable groups such as PWDs”.

“At present, we have a full-fledged and dedicated department for Women, Children and other vulnerable groups and a disability focus thematic team. With this specific focus, the Commission has been able to sustain focus of PWDs issues as a high profile subject of interest aimed at ensuring a disability-inclusive, accessible and sustainable disability friendly post COVID-19 society” he stated.

As the world marks this year’s International Day of Persons with Disabilities (IDPD) in the midst of a pandemic, the Commission calls on the government and other relevant stakeholders to ensure the inclusion of PWDs in all areas of recovery, rebuilding efforts from the COVID -19 devastation and prevention of all forms of discrimination and inequalities against pwds in line with the expectations of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, the Discrimination against Persons with Disabilities (Prohibition) Act 2018 amongst others.

To you the disability community, the Commission is usually pained whenever we hear sounds of destructive disunity within your ranks. The need for you to work together in unity and oneness in order to achieve the desired inclusion and protection in line with human rights expectations can never be overemphasized. As the popular saying goes, a house divided against it cannot stand, but collapse. UNITED WE STAND, DIVIDED WE FALL.

The President of The Initiative for Disability Inclusion and Diversity (INCLUD) Bilkisu Ado Zango in her statement said that this year’s celebration of International Day of Persons with Disabilities with the theme: Building Back Better: towards a disability-inclusive, accessible and sustainable post COVID-19 World is an annual observance of the International Day of Persons with Disabilities which was proclaimed in 1992 by the United Nations General Assembly resolution 47/3 which set aside December 3 every year to promote the rights and well-being of persons with disabilities in all spheres of society and development, and to increase awareness of the situation of persons with disabilities in every aspect of political, social, economic and cultural life.

Today December 3, 2020, we join the world in celebrating International Day of Persons with Disabilities with the aim of increasing public awareness, sensitizing on disability issues and advocating for the dignity of people with different forms of disabilities. The Initiative for Disability Inclusion and Diversity (INCLUD) is a registered non-governmental organization of a formidable network of sixty-two (62) individual organizations representing women and girls with disabilities.

“Our mission is to be a Unified voice and a collection of forces to uphold the rights and dignity of women and girls with disabilities, by eliminating barriers to full integration and advocating full inclusion and participation in development process to improve the deplorable lives and life chances of women and girls with disabilities in our patriarchal society”.

“Our organization is a huge opportunity for women with and without disabilities to work together to build confidence, self-esteem and positive expectations about life goals through the following outstanding objectives: Undertaking systemic advocacy Providing policy advice Undertaking Research Providing information and education to build a healthy synergy with other women groups.”

In the year 2010 the United Nations estimated that Nigeria as a country had 10% of persons living with disabilities. In 2011, the UN World Report on Disability published that 25 million Nigerians live with one form of disability or the other. Presently, Nigerians living with disabilities are approximated at 28 million persons and that 60% of the 28 million are women.

“Our gathering here today is to raise our voice to the awareness that approximately 28 million Nigerians of which 60% are women are confronted by environmental and social barriers”.

Disability inclusion is an essential condition to upholding human rights, sustainable development, and peace and security. It is also central to the promise of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development to leave no one behind.

The commitment to realizing the rights of persons with disabilities is not only a matter of justice; it is an investment in a common future. Nigeria’s economic, political and social systems are not accessible to persons with disabilities. Our governments, religious institutions, financial institutions, educational institutions, the media etc. have bigger roles to play in helping to overcome these barriers.

She said that all have important roles in eradicating disablement in Nigeria, especially at this time when the world is battling with the COVID-19 pandemic.

“The global crisis of COVID-1 9 has deepened pre-existing inequalities, exposing the extent of exclusion and highlighting that work on disability inclusion is imperative. People with disabilities (one billion people in the world) are the most excluded groups in our society and are among the hardest hit in this crisis in terms of fatalities. Even under normal circumstances, persons with disabilities are less likely to access health care, education, employment and to participate in the community” she added.

An integrated approach is required to ensure that persons with disabilities are not left behind. While acknowledging that the pandemic threatened all members of our society, however, women and girls with disabilities were and still are disproportionately impacted due to the systemic institutional, environmental and attitudinal barriers that we encounter in our daily lives. It is also in the public domain that security for women and girls with disabilities was put to test as crimes and violence tremendously increased during the lockdown, she stated.

“Disability inclusion will result in a COVID I9 response and recovery that better serves everyone, more fully suppressing the virus, as well as building back better. It will provide for more agile systems capable of responding to complex situations, reaching the furthest behind first. It is important that frameworks of policies and responses to COVID-19 issues are disability inclusive. She furthermore said that Building back better towards a disability-inclusive, accessible and sustainable post COVID-19 nation that the Nigerian society should not overlook the fact that the increased rate of hunger and malnutrition among persons with disabilities is a significant factor needing urgent attention”.

“The prevailing situation of non-availability, non-affordability and non-accessibility of food to persons with disabilities in Nigeria is contrary to FAQ’s standards which entails that the central issue to life sustenance is access to food”.

She calls on governments to ensure that food, a necessity to life is within the reach of people who need it the most. Post COVID-19 policies should be tilted towards addressing the needs and situations of persons with disabilities.

Achievement of accessibility and affordability to basic needs of life involves redistributive public policies in terms of income and employment by the governments. Persons with disabilities need employment in order to increase access to social insurance based on employment and in order to build economic resilience in the post COVID-19 Nigeria, she advocated.

Persons with disabilities are skilled /talented persons who are ready to render services and contribute their quota to Nigeria’s development process. She demands to be dignified through the services we can render, rather than being regarded as recipients of charity.

Building back Nigeria in the post COVID-19 must be in consideration of unique elects of disruptions triggered by lockdowns, the new normal’ and the challenges of accessing technological equipment and other supports to enable persons with disabilities be at par with other citizens and be resilience to the changing world.

The group called on government to take appropriate measures that would specifically protect persons with disabilities through strengthened social safety net because PWDs are among the poorest and most vulnerable group. In addition to the above they asked  for the following:

• Disability inclusive proposed post COVID-19 housing programme
• Accessible public works and road construction programme
• Households of persons with disabilities to be included in the proposed installation of solar systems
• Allocation of farmlands to persons with disabilities in all the states for the mass agricultural programme

SOME PICTURES OF THE EVENT

TQM report,

Voice of Disability Initiative on Friday in Abuja organized a One Day Workshop on effective inclusive education practice as part of their activities to mark International Day for Persons With disabilities.

The Executive Director, VDI, Barrister Catherine Edeh while declaring the workshop open said that it is part of their project towards promoting the implementation of Inclusive Education supported by Disability Rights Fund. She said that this is an area that OPDs and other CSOs have not been doing a lot. Speaking further, she said that the reason why they brought together organization of persons with disabilities and persons with disabilities is to draw their attention to inclusive education so that they would understand the concept of inclusive education and begin to ask questions on the implementation of the policy.  She also said that the workshop is also to equip the participants on the requisite knowledge about inclusive education.

There were goodwill message from Barrister Kassim Lawal (an executive member of Association of Lawyers with Disabilities (ALDIN), Jemila Abdul, WEADI and Comments from Lola Aneke and Dr. Grace Ilori, Edet Elizabeth from Mimijean Foundation and Okoroafor Alex.  

The participants were taken on topics such as roles of government, CSOs, Private Organizations, parents, teachers, peers in promoting inclusive education in Nigeria and FCT in particular which was facilitated by Alaukwu Nnenna, Okoroafor Alex facilitated a session on Achieving effective Inclusion Education in Pre-Nursery and Primary Schools, Blessing Ini and Douglas Izuu facilitated Effective Inclusive education at Secondary and Tertiary Level.

The participants were grouped into three to carry out group works and presentations to help them understand the concept of inclusive education better and how they can carry out advocacy for the practice of inclusive education in all schools.

The participants were drawn from organizations of persons with disabilities (OPDs) and different clusters of disability.

The participants were urged to take the message of Inclusive education out to the public and advise people when the need arises on the important of inclusive education and how it can contribute to improvement of education.

Some pictures of the event:

Nigerian Association of Women Journalists (NAWOJ) Kano State Chapter have joined the rest of the world to celebrate International Day of Persons with Disabilities (IDPD) The 3rd of December is observed annually to promote the full and equal participation of persons with disabilities and to take action for the inclusion of persons with disabilities in all aspects of society and development.The theme for this year is “Building Back Better: toward a disability-inclusive, accessible and sustainable post COVID-19 World”.

In a statement signed by the NAWOJ Chairperson Kano State Chapter, Bilkisu Ado Zango highlighted that, people with disability have been amongst the most vulnerable populations during the current COVID-19 outbreak due to many health, social and environmental barriers, discriminatory attitudes and inaccessible infrastructure.

NAWOJ Kano State called on Government at all levels to strengthen the framework on disability inclusion in order to ensure sustainable inclusive development.

by Agbo Chris,

One of the groups championing the cause of Persons with disabilities in Nigeria, Voice of Disability Initiative (VDI) on Friday in Abuja organized a press conference on Promoting effective Inclusive Education Practice in FCT which was held to mark the annual International Day of Persons with disabilities (IDPD).

It is part of the project that VDI is carrying out being supported by Disability Rights Fund.

The Executive Director of Voice of Disability Initiative, Barrister Catherine Edeh while speaking to the press said that segregations in the schooling system is a gross discrimination against children with disabilities, calling for a more inclusive educational model in Nigeria.

She said that inclusive education is all about all students attending and are welcome by their neighborhood schools in age-appropriate, regular classes and are supposed to learn, contribute and participate in all aspects of the life of the school.

“We are not talking about ‘segregation’ school system where special schools for different clusters of learners with disabilities are situated at remote places, thereby exposing them to see themselves differently.

“In Nigeria, the educational model mostly practised is segregation, where children with disabilities are educated in special schools. Segregation can often reinforce discrimination against children with disabilities, exclude them from socialisation in a diverse society and make them vulnerable to a range of human rights abuses,” she said.

“When we talk about ‘inclusive education’ our message is clear and precise, how do we develop and design our schools, classrooms, programs and activities so that all students learn and participate together with segregation?”

“Inclusive education is about ensuring access to quality education for all students by effectively meeting their diverse needs in a way that is responsive, accepting, respectful and supportive. Students participate in the education program in a common learning environment with support tp diminish and remove barriers and obstacles that may lead to exclusion”

She also said that inclusive education is back with commitments of the United Nations Convention on the rights of Persons with disabilities (UNCRPD), Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and World Bank Group 10 commitments to Disability Inclusive Development, member countries are bound by this which Nigeria is part of. Article 24 of UNCRPD encourages inclusive education and quality and free education for PWDs in Primary and Secondary Schools in equal basis with others, SDG Goal 4, emphasized on ensuring inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all including PWDs. World bank group 10 Commitments to Disability Inclusive Development( Commitment 1) ensures that all world bank group finance education programs and projects with disability inclusiveness by 2025.  

Despite the local and international laws and commitments, many children with disabilities remain excluded from the educational system. For some of those within the educational system, they continue to face various forms of violence and disability-based discrimination, she added.

According to UNICEF, an estimated 93 million children worldwide live with disabilities. Nearly 50 per cent of such children are not in school, especially in developing countries like Nigeria.

A 2017 report on inclusive education by the World Bank and the Global Partnership for Education found that though literacy among children with learning disabilities has increased globally, these children remain severely excluded from educational policies and still lag far behind their peers.

In Nigeria, which has the highest number of out-of-school children in the world, ascertaining the percentage of those with learning disabilities is next to impossible as official data is non-existent, an investigation by Devex showed.

As such, any educational plan will most likely not address the needs of those with disabilities, pushing them further to the margins of society.

She stated that in the FCT, implementation of inclusive education are faced with numerous challenges, the awareness level is still very low, no much advocacy in the area of inclusive education, so people do not clearly understand the importance of inclusive education to development. Most schools both public and private do not accommodate learners with disabilities. There is general segregation of special schools designed for learners with disabilities and that should be their best system of learning.

SEE THE VIDEOS OF THE PRESS CONFERENCE

“How can a parent with a bright deaf child who live at Masaka for instance send his/ her five years old deaf child for a school for the deaf at Lafia or Kuje daily as a day student, noting that a child of such age range cannot cope a boarding pupils? No responsible parent would love to send a child below 7 years old to a boarding school.  The proximity issues associated with special schools and the way they are always cited at remote places and they are few, it is the situation in FCT and all over Nigeria”.

“FCT administration has made considerable efforts to incorporate inclusive education at Primary and Secondary Schools level by selecting Government School for the Deaf Dutse and some other schools to test run the implementation of inclusive education in the FCT but the process have not yielded the desired result and as such more effort and attention is needed to make more effective and visible in FCT” In order to ensure effective common learning environment, She proposed certain roles and responsibilities that will help to change the narratives,  modification of the education curriculum to ensure the adaptation and enabling of each child with disabilities to fully participate in the learning environment that is designed for all students and is shared with peers in the chosen educational setting, develop positive attitude and providing positive climate, promote a sense of belonging and ensure student progress towards appropriate personal, social, emotional and academic goals,

Also Accessible Communication mediums, Advocacies and awareness of rights, being responsive to individual learning needs, Resource mobilization and giving support beyond school or classrooms, implementation of the schemes, providing legal action and legislation to ensure enforcement, involvement of Civil society organizations (CSOs) to create more  awareness and carry out more advocacy, introduce innovative practice through research, identifying children in need and ensuring their placement, keep track on the identified children and provide resources, create a collaboration with government agencies and other stakeholder to achieve the set objectives.

Again, engaging owners of private schools to make them inclusive, share knowledge and skills such as leadership management and teachers training, capacity building and organizational and leadership skills for improved quality inclusive education.

She also stated that Inclusive Education would be beneficial in ways that it would enhance friendship, understanding and acceptance of diversity, increased social initiation, acceptance, relationship, appreciation and acceptance of individual differences, increased academic performance, increase inclusion, greater opportunities for interactions and respect for all people, peer role model for academic, social and behavioural skills.

She called for more attention and commitments of the major stakeholders in education towards the implementation of inclusive education because effective inclusive education practice is achievable in Nigeria and it is important no child with disability is left out of school.  

More pictures

TQM report,

Joy to the World Special Needs Initiative (JWSNI) on Thursday in Abuja celebrated the 2020 international day for persons with disability with blind children at FCT School for the blind Jabi, Abuja. The group in line with the theme “ensuring the rights to quality inclusive education for persons with disabilities: from commitment to action” decided to reach out to these blind children to encourage them and raise their hope for a better tomorrow despite the disability. 

Dr. Grace Ilori in her speech acknowledged the management of the school and expressed joy that her organization is celebrating with these amazing children.

Speaking further, she said that they are one and that is why they are here to celebrate with them and also to educate themselves on the things they need to know, create awareness about PWDS their peculiar needs as disability is diverse.

She was excited and recognized the representative of Ministry of Women Affairs Mrs. Aisha Kate Audu, Mr. Isiuwea Daniel, Barr. Catherine Edeh, and The Qualitative Magazine (TQM) crew.

Mrs. Aisha Kate Audu from the Ministry of Women Affairs in her goodwill message appreciated the JWSNI for organizing such a celebration for FCT School for the blind Jabi, and encouraged the children to be more focus because there is ability in disability; they should be more committed in what they do.

Barr. Catherine Edeh in her keynote address encouraged the children and gave them instances of people who are doing well even though they are PWDS, she told them that they should be strong, they should not listen to the negative things people are telling them rather they should listen to the positive comments and let those words guide them, they should say to themselves that they are able and they can do it.

She also said that the blind are the most brilliant and exceptional cluster group among other clusters of disability. She also said that they are future leaders, and they should fight for it, and they should understand that they are no longer where they are yesterday, they are progressing and developing though it is a gradual process but they should start with positive mindset, believe in themselves, and their self-confidence should be topnotch. She also gave them example with herself when she was growing, how she wanted to explore her world and how perseverance she is until she broke through, she encouraged and appreciated them.

Mr. Isiuwea Daniel who is also a blind person encouraged and motivated them and assured them that there is nothing that they set out to achieve that they cannot achieve. He gave them examples of some great blind persons such as Cobhams Asuquo who have distinguished himself inspite being blind. She urged them to take their condition as an opportunity to excel in life. He ended by entertaining the children with a great song.  

The school choir made up of some of the blind children also sang in one of the most melodious voices in the world. It was awesome the way they sang. See the Video:

The representative of the School head teacher, Mr. Jonathan Momoh in his closing remark appreciated JWSNI for identifying with them and their needs and encouragement they gave the children which will help them to do more, if they want to. He said that the words of encouragement is not different from what the teachers has been telling them, it is left for them(children) to work on themselves and become better people. He said that they push everyone along, encouraging them as their teachers to focus, push forward and be determined.

Dr. Grace in her closing speech said that with the support of her family and friends, she is donating 10 piece of slates, 10 pieces of stylus and 10 rims of braille papers to enhance their learning, the excitements that came from these children indicates that these items are badly needed for their learning.

She told them that it is the little that she can do for now but she promised to do more if she receive more support. She then called on well-meaning Nigerians to support the school with these materials because they are very important for the education of blind people.

The children and their teachers were also entertained with good meals and drinks.

Some Pictures Of The Event:

Ministries, Departments and Agencies of Lagos State are still struggling to implement the disability law of the state, the Centre for Citizens with Disabilities (CCD) says.