No fewer than 10 polio survivors in Bauchi State have received wheelchairs, courtesy of the Rotary Club International, Bauchi Chapter.
Speaking during the distribution of the equipment in Bauchi, The President of the Club in the state, Mr Chukwunonso Nwobi, said that the gesture was one of the focus areas of the club being one of the leading organisations in the eradication of polio in the world.
He said that the wheelchairs were not given to them to encourage street begging, rather they were to aid their movement while engaging in productive activities.
“There are people affected by polio and we don’t want them to be a burden to society as a result of not being able to move about.
“As a result, we try to aid them in their movements by providing these hand powered tricycles and this would help them to go to school, places of work or worship and to go and learn a trade so that they won’t be a burden to themselves or to the society.
“I will like to urge the beneficiaries not to give up on life and aspire for whatever they would like to be.Two among them are graduates and one of them have served with the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC).
“So, whatever your dreams are inspite of disability, you can still achieve those dreams because there is ability in disability,” he said.
The president, who warned the beneficiaries against using the chairs for street begging, warned that the club has the right to confiscate the chair from any of them found guilty.
In his address, Dr. Rilwanu Mohammed, the Executive Chairman, Bauchi State Primary Health Care Development Agency (BSPHCDA) appreciated the ‘kind gesture’ by Rotary club.
Represented by Mr Yusuf Pate, Deputy Director, Disease Control, BSPHCDA, Mohammed said that the agency and Rotary club had been working together for many years especially, in the fight against polio in the state.
He urged the club to continue to provide maximum support to the state government to fight against polio not only in Nigeria but Bauchi state in particular.
In their separate vote of thanks, two beneficiaries, Malam Hassan Mohammed and Saudat Galadima Rotary club and BSPHCDA for identifying them to benefit from the gesture.
They promised to use the equipment judiciously and prayed for more people to provide such assistance to their counterparts or other people of such condition.
