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Polio survivors want empowerment

By Emeka Anuforo
28 July 2016   |   5:38 am
As part of efforts towards a polio free Nigeria, polio survivors are seeking a comprehensive plan for rehabilitation and empowerment of millions of victims of the wild poliovirus.
 Dr. Richard Balami.

Dr. Richard Balami.

As group seeks better deal for persons with disability

As part of efforts towards a polio free Nigeria, polio survivors are seeking a comprehensive plan for rehabilitation and empowerment of millions of victims of the wild poliovirus.

The survivors say they have been largely neglected in the scheme of things and allowed to cater for themselves, while calling on the Federal Government to work out an empowerment scheme for them.

President of the Association of Comprehensive Empowerment of Nigerians with Disabilities, Cosmas Ikechukwu Okoli, who spoke in an interview with The Guardian urged government and its partners not to be complacent as Nigeria looks forward to a World Health Organization (WHO) polio free certification in 2017.

Okoli also used the opportunity to appeal for greater deal for people with disabilities in government and called on President Muhammadu Buhari to confirm the appointment of Acting Postmaster General of the Federation, of the Nigerian Postal Service (NIPOST), Dr. Richard Balami.

The Association maintained that the confirmation of Dr. Balami, a polio survivor, as the head of NIPOST would send the right signal that government is an equal opportunity one.He stressed: “I am a polio survivor. I thank God that finally we eradicated polio. I want to say that we are not yet there. We cannot say that poliovirus has been finally and totally eradicated from the surface of the earth. I want to say that we should continue to push. We should continue to do all we can to ensure that this polio free status is maintained.

“We also need to remember and recognize the fact that there are millions of Nigerians who are already victims of this wild polio virus and who suffered disability. It is time to focus on them now, to help rehabilitate them, to help empower and to bring them into this effort to ensure that poliovirus does not resurface here. That would be the best way to celebrate and continue to celebrate our milestone.”

The call for the confirmation of Balami at NIPOST, he noted: “We did a review of what is happening in this country and came to the knowledge that one of us has been appointed acting Post Master General and we resolved that we should first of all thank the government for giving the opportunity given to someone who is qualified and able to handle the Post Master General’s office and then appeal to the government, the President, Muhammadu Buhari, to please confirm him as the substantive Post Master General. I was mandated to see the Secretary to the Government of the Federation to make our case.

“He had polio and uses wheel chair virtually all his life. But he is a highly educated and highly competent and one of the special breeds this country can boast of. It would be very significant to confirm him as the Post Master General. One, that would be in line with the Change mantra of this government, a change that recognizes abilities, a change that wants to depart from the faulty past, a change that wants to put the round peg in the round hole, a change that can only be driven by competent civil service as well as right thinking politicians. We need the President to convince the international community that this is truly a government that is bringing about positive change. I must commend the President. This is the first time the federal government is appointing somebody with disability as Special Assistant to the President.“

“All over the world, the emphasis is on ability. Most of the time, we are treated like damaged goods. Even where we are qualified and able to contribute better than our able-bodied counterpart, in the past, the situation has been that we are discriminated against. Abilities are sacrificed on the altar of discrimination. So, it will begin to send out a message that Nigeria is really ready to move forward.”

He also urged government to enhance work on the disability commission while making a case for reliable data on the number of Nigerians living with disabilities.“We have well over 24 million Nigerians with disabilities. Out of that population, we have a lot of people who are well qualified to move this country forward. We don’t have a strong mouthpiece in the civil service. This means that a lot of human resources that abound with persons with disability are not captured.

On exact number of persons with disabilities, he stressed: “The National Populations Commission in its census in the past never made any reasonable effort to get this statistics for us, which is very unfortunate, and I hope that when we are going to have another census that this should be part of it. There is a huge amount of money spent on census.

“We should have the opportunity to get that very critical data including actual number of persons with disabilities in this country, highlighting the different types of disabilities. These statistics are very important in planning our policies, in moving the nation forward, in strategising in policy making, governance, and so on.”

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