From ABDULAHI YAKUBU, Dutse
A member representing Dutse constituency in Jigawa state House of Assembly Adamu Jigawar Tsada, said that there are over five Hundred people with disabilities World wide out of which Nigeria is harboring about twenty three million saying this pose a great challenge to the authorities which are expected to provide the basic social amenities to the disabled.
Tsada made the assertion while speaking to New Nigerian as part of the the occasion to mark the World disabled Day held in Jigawa state Capital yesterday.
According to him, the day for the people with disabilities was set aside by countries of the World in 1992 as part of the resolution by the UN Convention on the rights of people with disabilities.
According to him, the challenges posed by disabilities is so enormous that governments at all levels are confronted with them headlong.
He said there is lack of awareness among the people over the rights of the disabled persons that is why up till date things are not just easy for them.
Tsada who is also one of the people suffering from disabilities said if not for the fact that God had made him to passed through the conventional School, he could have been one of those grappling with the realities of our times.
He said having being privileged to see himself at the legislative House, he plans to make sure that things were improved for the living standards of the disabled persons.
He said it is high time the able ones should start paying much attention on the plights of the disabled because it is by so doing that the they would heave a sign of belonging in their capacity as bonafide members of the society.
While commenting on the efforts of the Lamido administration on the plight of the disable, he said that, throughout the Country there is no state government that would be compared with what is happening in Jigawa state,
Since the coming of Lamido administration a new social policy that would cater fro the need of the person suffering from disability was introduced tagged Social Security allowance adding that each and every crippled, blind, death dumb persons are entitled to seven thousand at the end of every month.
Tsada said that apart from that the government had shouldered the responsibility of sending their wards to School and there over four thousand disabled persons in the state . He said the government had equally directed the 27 local government areas of the state to employ five disable persons each and the recruited fifty as means of providing jobs for them and encourage self reliance among them.
He said even at the national level their association is vigorously pursuing the rights of the of the persons with disabilities a bill to that effect is before the President to receive presidential blessings before its passage by the national assembly adding once the bill is pass it will go along way in reducing the hardships and bureaucratic bottle necks the disabled are facing throughout the country.