The United Nations Secretary General, Antonio Guterres, on Wednesday said the world’s 1 billion people with disabilities are among the hardest hit by the coronavirus pandemic in terms of fatalities.
“The share of Covid-19-related deaths in care homes – where older people with disabilities are overrepresented – ranges from 19 per cent to an astonishing 72 per cent,” he said in a video message.
Mr Guterres highlighted that persons with disabilities face a lack of accessible public health information, barriers to implement basic hygiene measures and inaccessible health facilities.
If they contract the disease caused by the novel coronavirus, “many are more likely to develop severe health conditions, which may result in death,” he said.
The UN chief launched a report that recommends a disability-inclusive response and recovery to the crisis. “Even under normal circumstances, persons with disabilities are less likely to access education, health care and income opportunities or participate in the community,” he said.
“The pandemic is intensifying these inequalities and producing new threats,” he added. Mr Guterres also recently highlighted the impact of the crisis on older people and children, who he said are at a higher risk of death, abuse and malnutrition during the pandemic.(dpa/NAN)
In their effort to support persons with disabilities in Ekiti state in this moment of pandemic, a Non-Governmental Organization (NGO), Disability Not A Barrier Initiative (DINABI) had commenced the distribution of food relief materials to persons with disabilities across three local governments in Ekiti state namely, Ado, Oye and Ikere.
The project tagged “Feed them to Survive” was aimed at supporting persons with disabilities and their household to cope with the realities of our society in this moment of pandemic. It is a well-known fact around the world that Corona Virus also known as COVID-19 is killing and infecting people including persons with disabilities in hundreds of thousands and millions respectively. However, its resultant effect on the economy across the world had made life more miserable for people with disabilities.
The Executive Director of the organization, Olajide Funso said DINABI had been in the forefront of advocacy services in the last few months since COVID-19 started, ranging from sensitization, training, media engagement, online and social media awareness creation and most importantly partnership with government to reach out to the most vulnerable group; the disability community. It was in the view of this that they decided to take it a step higher by distributing relief packages to their very own community with support from some patriotic individuals.
Some of the beneficiaries who could not hide their excitement thanked the organizers and their supporters for the initiative while also praying earnestly for them.
In separate words of prayers and appreciation, Mr. Oyinbo Orekunrin, an elderly man with albinism in Ado-Ekiti appreciated DINABI for their support. He said he has been hearing about DINABI but he finally met them when he needed them most.
Also, Miss Owoeye Damilola, a visually impaired young lady in Ikere-Ekiti expressed her delight over the support, stating that it came at the nick of time. She said the impact of the lockdown on her family has brought untold hardship, but quickly noting that DINABI and their donors brought succor to them at the right time.
One of the beneficiaries, Mrs. Idowu Adebiyi, a woman with
hearing impairment who spoke with sign language appreciated the good gesture of
DINABI and prayed for their donors that they will never lack.
It would be recalled that DINABI had earlier called on governments at all levels and individuals in the society to rise and support persons with disabilities in the different communities. Mr Ibitoye Olugbenga, DINABI’s M&E Officer said persons with disabilities in our various communities should not be abandoned in this trying period. While appreciating government and some philanthropist for their support so far, he said they can still do more.
DINABI’S program assistant, Miss Hellen Oluwatoyin who monitored
the distribution in Oye-Ekiti and Ilupeju-Ekiti called on well-meaning Nigerians
to give support to DINABI to do more. She noted that she did not know the
extent of the damage COVID-19 had done until she went out for the exercise. She
urged as many that may want to support either with cash or with food materials
to contact their organization.
Each of the packages distributed contains food materials
such as rice, garri, indomie, semovita, salt and tissue papers.
Oyo State Governor, Engr. Seyi Makinde have been urged to prioritize distribution of palliatives to people with disabilities in the state.
Wasiu Nurudeen, a politically inclined human right activist who disclosed this in a chat with National Insight recently said people with disability really needs support.
Wasiu noted that people with disabilities are the worst hit during this COVID-19 as most of them find it difficult to move from one location to other in search for what will sustain them.
‘Our governor has been very supportive to people with disability and I must commended his efforts but we need him more especially at this trying times, he has listening ear, I am optimistic that he will surely consider us in palliative distribution soonest, Wasiu said.
The Founder and president of Para-Soccer Federation of Nigeria, Alhaji Misbahu Lawan Didi has commended the Federal Capital Territory Administration for providing COVID-19 palliatives to members of his federation and other residents with disabilities in the Federal Capital Territory. Didi who doubles as the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC, National Disabled leader said that he approached Minister of State for FCT, Dr. Ramatu Tijani Aliyu who graciously approved 3,000 palliative packs for distribution to his members.
He also said in line with the minister’s directive, a nine-man committee made up of people with physical disabilities was constituted and is presently distributing the palliatives. Didi explained further that the palliatives are for all persons with disabilities in the FCT as he reiterated that it has nothing to do with party affiliation.
“I spoke to the Minister of State for FCT on the need for people with disabilities to be given some palliatives to cushion the present hardship and she graciously approved my request. “She asked me to set up a committee to handle the distribution of the palliatives. After we set up the committee, she released to us 3,000 palliative packages which we are sharing to our members. “The committee has been to kwali, Gwagwalada, Kuje, Bwari and some parts of AMAC like Karu, Karshi-Orozo axis, Jabi covered PWDs in Asokoro, Wuse, Garki, Maitama, Mabushi, Gwagwa, Karimo etc.
Today(Friday), the committee will attend to those in Karamajiji and other settlements like Lugbe. “We want Karamajiji to be among the last because they are the largest with as much as five hundred to six hundred members. Already I have arranged for space inside the MKO Abiola stadium for them to receive their items under a very orderly and peaceful atmosphere. “We want to thank the Hon. Minister for promptly responding to our call for help. You can imagine what would have become of us, if we were to be lumped with people without disabilities,” he said.
The Para-Soccer president also called on other states to emulate the good example set by the Federal Capital Administration. He said whatever help that is extended to people with disabilities would go a long way in reducing the hardship unleashed on them by the coronavirus pandemic. “What the FCT administration has done is unprecedented. We only appeal to other states to emulate the FCT. We are also calling on corporate bodies to remember persons with disabilities in this trying moment,” said Lawan Didi.
The FCT Persons with Disabilities (PWDs) Committee on COVID-19 on Thursday distributed palliative to persons with disabilities residing in Kuje Area Council and Karshi.
The exercise took place at FCT School for the Deaf, Kuje and L.E.A Primary School, Karshi.
The residents with disabilities in these two locations visited, came out in their hundred to receive the palliative.
The Qualitative Magazine while monitoring the exercise found out that the palliative even though the beneficiaries complained that it came a bit late, they were happy receiving it but most of them preferred that the palliative be delivered to their homes because of the difficulties they faced getting to the designated centres as a result of the lockdown.
The Committee applied the same pattern of taking the items to the beneficiaries wherever they were seated within the premises to ensure physical distancing and the distribution was peaceful.
The beneficiaries at the centres were satisfied because they all got the items as the committee ensured that all present received the palliative.
Lets also inform you that The Committee were at Kwali and Gwagwalada Area Councils on Wednesday. The two places witnessed the highest turnout of beneficiaries, the same process of distribution was followed and the entire crowd of people with disabilities who trooped out went home happy and satisfied.
The distribution continues on Friday as the committee are yet to reach out to persons with disabilities in Lugbe axis and Abaji Area Council.
Leaders of Disability Community at the Stakeholder meeting with Humanitarian Affairs Minister
The minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development, Hajiya Sadiya Umar Farouq while answering a question about persons with disabilities Palliative asked by Jake Epelle(founder, The Albino Foundation) through a female journalist at Wednesday PTF press briefing , reaffirmed her ministry commitment towards providing Palliatives for persons with disabilities (PWDs).
She explained that the palliatives were handed over to the state governors with instruction to reach out to the vulnerable including persons with disabilities but going by peculiarities of persons with disabilities, she assured that her ministry would still reach out to persons with disabilities directly in addition to the states Palliative distribution ongoing.
In reassuring her commitment, she said that as a minister, persons with disabilities has been her priority which informed her decision to appoint a Senior Special Assistant on Disability Matters and two week ago, she organized a stakeholders meeting with some leaders of disability community. The major outcome of the meeting was an action committee made up of leaders of disability community with expectation of providing guidelines and modalities for inclusion of PWDs in COVID-19 intervention and palliative distribution to PWDs.
But she complained that the report or resolutions of the Committee is yet to be submitted to her and as such, she pushed it back to the PWDs committee on COVID-19 by saying and I quote in her exact words“I think I should be the one asking Jake Epelle for the report/resolutions of the Committee which he is a member”.
She urged the committee to submit the report or resolutions for further action towards ensuring Palliative distribution to persons with disabilities.
The Lebanese Community in Lagos has donated eight truck load of various food items and an ambulance worth N82.5 million to the Lagos State Government to support the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic in the state.
The items which include 43 various essential food and other items worth N67.5 million and an ambulance worth N15 Million include 1,848 cartons of Aquafina water, 105 cartons of sanitizers, 350 cartons of noodles, 100 cartons of 1kg rice, 120 cartons of margarine, 1,000 cartons of Supreme noodles, 1667 cartons of biscuits, 300 cartons of chips, soya oil, 1,000 cartons of semovita and 1,000 cartons of spaghetti among many others.
The Consul General of Lebanon, Mr. Elias Nicolas who presented the donation on behalf of the community to the State Government commended the State Government for the efforts made so far to contain and combat the spread of COVID-19 pandemic in the State.
He pointed out that the well calculated efforts of the State Government in its fight against the Coronavirus stirred up the commitment of the Lebanese Community in Lagos to support the needy in this period.
“I thank our Governor, Mr. Babajide Sanwo-Olu and we commend the State’s efforts to control the COVID-19 pandemic. We are here accompanied by some prominent members of the Lebanese Community; not just to convey to you a certain donation in kind, but practically to show our brothers and sisters in Nigeria our commitment to the well-being of Nigeria and its people, to stand up beside them in this hard moment. We look forward to a brighter future to reverse all collateral damage of this COVID-19 crisis. We will always be together whether in bad moment or happy one,” Nicolas asserted.
Commissioner for Agriculture, Prince Gbolahan Lawal receiving the donations
In the same vein, the Chairman of the Lebanese Community in Lagos, Mr. Faysal El Khalil noted that the donation was a token of appreciation for their country of choice, Nigeria, which has accepted them as citizens of the country.
El Khalil averred that Nigeria has provided many members of the Lebanese community opportunities that have helped them build a good and bright future for themselves and grandchildren.
“Whatever we are doing today or donating today is nothing but a token of our appreciation for our country of choice Nigeria that has taken us as one of theirs. Nigeria has provided many of us with opportunities that have helped us to build a good and bright future for ourselves and our grandchildren and theirs.
“Many of us in the Lebanese community are second, third or even fourth generations. So they are Nigerians indeed and they are proud to be so. What we are doing today is nothing but to say thank you Nigeria, thank you Lagos State,” he said.
He pointed out that the community would always be appreciative of the support and cooperation of Nigeria as a whole, adding that the Community has setup an educational endowment for the benefits of Nigerians.
“One of the things that we have recently done is that we have launched an endowment with the American University of Beirut which is one of the best Universities in the Middle East and one of the outstanding Universities in the World whereby every year, a Nigerian will be selected to go and do a MBA Programme at the American University of Beirut, all expenses paid: tuition, boarding, lodgment, food and travel.
“About seven years ago, we also launched a similar scholarship programme in the best business school that is well known in the world, the Harvard Business School, where every year, a Nigerian goes to the HBS and does his 2-year MBA Programme. In fact, as we speak, there are at least 7 Nigerians who have done their MBA and have returned to Nigeria,” El Khalil averred.
Receiving the items on behalf of the State Government, Commissioner for Agriculture, Prince Gbolahan Lawal expressed the profound gratitude of the State Government to the Community for the donation.
The Commissioner explained that the State Government has reached out to 440,000 households through its COVID-19 Emergency Food Response Initiative, a palliative for the aged, vulnerable, low income earners and people living with disabilities.
Lawal explained that the pandemic had a negative effect on the financial and economic status of Lagosians which was why the State Government birthed the idea of the Emergency Food Response Initiative to cater to the needs of the aged, vulnerable, people living with disabilities, and daily income earners who might have been directly affected by the lockdown.
“The pandemic Corona Virus is novel and it has a lot of negative impact on the economy globally, Lagos inclusive. We as policy makers felt that with the economic lockdown that the pandemic triggered, we decided to come up with food palliatives because we know that over 60% of the population of Lagos constitute the informal sector, whether they’re in the transportation business, artisans or market men and women; those are people that are directly affected by the lockdown because they live on daily wages, if they do not go out in a day, they earn no income,” Lawal noted.
The Commissioner stressed that the distribution of the relief materials would not stop especially as well meaning individuals and organizations such as the Lebanese Community were supporting the State Government’s Initiative.
Some of the food items
While appreciating the generosity of the Lebanese Community, Lawal assured Lagosians, especially those households that are yet to receive these stimulus packages that with due diligence, these food items would be distributed to get to those who really need them.
“We are honoured that you trust us to distribute these food packs and we promise that we will continue to be accountable and transparent. We appeal to Lagosians who are yet to receive these stimulus packages and we assure them that we will get to you.
“It is worthy of note however that no matter how much we try, we cannot get to every household because Lagos alone has a population of about 24 million people in over 4 million households. That is why we are lucky to have people like you who have decided to support the initiative of the State Government and a lot of other Lagosians who are doing their bit by feeding the vulnerable in their Communities. We say that we see all you do and we are sincerely grateful,” Lawal expressed.
The Commissioner disclosed that the Lebanese Community in Lagos had been doing a lot of good work for the people of Lagos State in terms of job creation and had contributed immensely to the industrialization of the State through investments and trade. (PM NEWS)
The Federal Government has barred the Presidential Task Force (PTF) on COVID 19 from having access to the donated funds.
The Office of the Accountant General of the Federation (OAGF) in Abuja on Tuesday issued a framework on how the donated COVID 19 fund is to be administered.
According to the framework, disbursements of all COVID 19 Fund including those being collected directly by CBN and those domiciled with commercial banks shall be through appropriation.
The framework stated that the COVID 19 Funds are “to be appropriated directly to participating MDAs and spending units like Ministry of Health, Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs, Nigerian Centre for Disease Control, etc rather than to an intermediary agency like the Presidential Task Force (PTF).”
Administrative cost of the PTF the government noted “shall be appropriated separately to the PTF Secretariat.”
“The advantage is that the respective spending units and their Accounting Officers take full responsibility for funds appropriated to them and likely bottlenecks at the PTF are eliminated” the framework stated.
The government noted that, “transparency is enhanced when funds are spread to more MDA than when a huge amount is put under the control of a single entity.”
To ensure equity and transparency in fund allocation, the Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning has also been directed to work with the PTF to determine the needs of participating MDA such as Health, Humanitarian Affairs, NCDC, etc.
Affected MDAS, the framework noted, “shall present details of their needs together with estimated cost. This will form the basis for allocation of funds and enable post expenditure reporting and audit.”
Funds are to be transferred to TSA Sub Accounts of spending units based on approved allocations.
The federal government also ordered all Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) that will benefit from the COVID-19 contributions to provide information to the public within seven days on how the money is spent.
According to the framework, any information regarding the management of the COVID-19 fund should be made available “to any member of the public. All participating MDA are to provide information on all COVID-19 Fund transactions to any member of the public – individual or corporate – under the Freedom of Information Act (FOI) within 7 days of receiving the request.”
Failure to publish a timely report of COVID-19 activities in the prescribed format and at the stipulated intervals or to respond to FOI request the government warned “will constitute early warning signs of mismanagement and shall be deemed as contravention of this Guideline.”
The framework also ordered that “all collections into the Commercial bank accounts are to be swept into FGN Sub-Recurrent Account with the CBN. Failure to sweep all balances within 24 hours shall be deemed a violation of the Presidential directive on TSA which shall attract sanctions.”
Going forward, the Office of the Accountant General of the Federation shall publish a Daily Treasury Statement for COVID-19 Fund outlining all the inflows into the Fund and all the outflows.
Also, each participating MDA shall publish a Daily Payment Report indicating the Beneficiary, Purpose of the Payment and the amount for any payment above N5 million made out of the COVID-19 Fund.
These publications shall be made on the Open Treasury Portal (www.opentreasury.gov.ng) not later than one week following the respective transaction. In addition each MDA shall publish a detailed report of its activities relating to COVID-19 Fund on its website at the end of every week.
The Monthly Budget Performance Report for the COVID-19 Fund shall be published on the Open Treasury Portal not later than 14 days following the end of the month.
In addition, a comprehensive report of all receipts and payments shall be published on the OAGF Transparency Portal as well as other Government websites including those of Federal Ministry of Finance, Budget and National Planning; Secretary to the Government of the Federation and Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation (OAGF) not later than two weeks following the end of the pandemic.
For purposes of visibility the government has instructed that “the inflow information “shall indicate the source of the funds while the outflow information shall indicate the MDA responsible for each payment out of the Fund.”
All accounts with commercial banks are to be linked with the TSA at CBN to provide a single consolidated view of aggregate Government cash balances.
This will provide a single window for real time access to details of receipts and payments across all commercial bank accounts. In the absence of a ready tool to accomplish this requirement, the current CBN Payment Gateway may be deployed.
The organized private sector, wealthy individuals and ordinary citizens have rising to to help government mitigate the impact of the dreaded Coronavirus pandemic through financial and material donations for the provision of critical medical facilities and equipment as well as palliatives for vulnerable citizens.
According to a statement by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) on Friday, April 17 2020; donations to the Private Sector Coalition Against COVID-19 (CACOVID) Fund domiciled at the CBN was N25.8 billion.
In addition to the main CACOVID Fund Account with CBN; President Muhammadu Buhari has approved the opening of five COVID-19 Donor Accounts which form part of the existing TSA arrangement in the following commercial banks: Zenith Bank; Access Bank; Guarantee Trust Bank; UBA; and First Bank.
The Lagos State Government, on Tuesday, disclosed that it had reached 440,000 Lagos households with its COVID-19 Emergency Food Response Initiative, a palliative scheme for the aged, vulnerable, low-income earners and people living with disabilities.
The Commissioner for Agriculture, Gbolahan Lawal, said this when the Lebanese government donated eight truckload of various food items and an ambulance worth N82.5 million to the Lagos State Government in support of the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic in the state.
Lawal said: “The pandemic coronavirus is novel and it has a lot of negative impact on the economy globally, Lagos inclusive.
“We, as policymakers, felt that with the economic lockdown that the pandemic triggered, we need to come up with food palliatives because we know that over 60% of the population of Lagos constitute the informal sector.
“Whether they’re in the transportation business, artisans or market men and women, those are people that are directly affected by the lockdown because they live on daily wages. If they do not go out in a day, they earn no income.”
Speaking further on the 440,000 Lagos households it has reached with palliatives, the commissioner added that “it is worthy of note, however, that no matter how much we try, we cannot get to every household because Lagos alone has a population of about 24 million people with over four million households.
“That is why we are lucky to have people like you, who have decided to support the Emergency Food Response Initiative of the state government and a lot of other Lagosians doing their bit by feeding the vulnerable in their communities.
“We say that we see all you do and we are sincerely grateful.”
Earlier, Consul-General of Lebanon, Mr. Elias Nicolas, who presented the donation on behalf of the community, said: “We are here accompanied by some prominent members of the Lebanese community in Lagos.
“We are here, not just to convey to you a certain donation in kind, but practically to show our brothers and sisters in Nigeria our commitment to the well-being of Nigeria and its people to stand up beside them in this hard moment.
“We look forward to a brighter future to reverse all collateral damage of this COVID-19 crisis. We will always be together whether in a bad moment or a happy one.”
Also speaking, Chairman of the Lebanese community in Lagos, Mr. Faysal El-Khalil, noted that the donation was a token of appreciation for their country of choice, Nigeria, which has accepted them as citizens of the country.
… as Dettol donates hygiene products
Meanwhile, Dettol has donated over 12,000 units of its antiseptic liquid and antibacterial soap to the Lagos State Safety Commission.
The donation forms part of Dettol’s contribution to the state government’s active measures of providing palliatives, which includes the distribution of its hygiene products such as Dettol Antiseptic Liquid and antiseptic soaps, to vulnerable residents across the state.
Speaking on the donations, the General Manager, RB Nigeria, Dayanand Sriram, said: “RB is glad to extend its support in the fight against COVID-19 to the Lagos State government with the donation of our hygiene products.
“Dettol protects from up to 100 illness-causing germs, and we will not relent in our advocacy of good hygiene practices and support for the country during and after this pandemic.”
Distribution at LEA Primary School, Karu Site, Abuja
The FCT Persons with Disabilities (PWDs) Committee on COVID-19 on Tuesday distributed palliative to persons with disabilities residing within some parts of Abuja Municipal Area Council (AMAC).
The distribution took place in two centres, L.E.A primary School, Karu Site which covered residents with disabilities at Jikwoyi, Kurudu, Orozo, Nyanya, Karu, Karshi etc and the second centre was L.E.A Primary School, Jabi which covered residents with disabilities from Wuse, Garki, Asokoro, Maitama, Kabusa, Jabi, Gwarinpa, Karimo, Gwagwa, Jiwa etc.
The Qualitative Magazine was at the scene of the exercise, we observed well coordinated committee and the distribution was peaceful and all those who are at the centres of the distribution got the palliative.
We learnt that the committee preferred the option of home delivery of the palliative but they are faced with the challenge of logistics to do that so they have no other option than choosing designated centres and ensure that beneficiaries obey social distancing by taking the palliative to them wherever they are seated within the place of distribution.
The Exercise continues on Wednesday at Rehabilitation Centre, Kwali to cover the PWDs in Kwali Area Council, Pilot Primary School near Area Court, Gwagwalada to cover residents with disabilities in Gwagwalada Area Council and Abuja School for the Deaf, Kuje for residents with disabilities in Kuje Area council.
