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ZAKARI ISAH - KADUNA
Ahead of the World International Day Of Persons With Disabilities 3rd December 2023, the joint National Association of Persons with Disability (JONAPWD) Kaduna with support from the Coalition of Associations for Leadership, Peace, Empowerment & Development (CALPED) organized an interactive section with all the clusters in the state to celebrate the day, calling on all stakeholders to sustain inclusiveness in all human endeavor.
The gathering which took place at Kaduna State Rehabilitation Board drew the attention of the media organization on The need for inclusiveness of all human activities with persons with disabilities.
The State Chairman of the Association, Comrade Suleiman Abdulazeez stressed the need for total inclusiveness and accessibility for PWD in all infrastructure in Nigeria.
The theme for the 2023 International Day of Persons with Disabilities (IDPD) is: "United in action to rescue and achieve the SDGs for, with and by persons with disabilities.
The meeting brought together all the clusters of disabled persons in the state to dialogue and interact to address issues affecting their well-being.
According to him, the call for inclusiveness became mandatory given the various roles played by religious, traditional title holders and concerned civil society organizations in the country.
"We want to be included in everything that concerns us, precisely in all human activities which include jobs, opportunities, appointments, etc".
Mallam Ibrahim Abubakar is the state chairman of the Nigeria Association for the Blind which equally decried over increased cost of educational materials, and white cane for blind students across the 19 Northern States of Nigeria.
According to him, lack of digital literacy is also affecting blind kids, called on the state government and wealthy individuals to assist the poor blind children with scholarships.
Similarly, Mallam Mohammed Musa Iya the Kaduna State Chairman of the Association for the Deaf lamented that discrimination, inadequate accessibility, and lack of sound and communicative device system is affecting real communication between them and other people..
He notes that, most times participation of deaf persons in any conference or dialogue is always difficult due to a lack of provision of sign language interpreters.
Mallam Mohammed called on all event and conference planners to include sign language specialists for effective communication both at state and national levels to take along the deaf.
In a contribution, The Coalition of Associations for Leadership, Peace, Empowerment & Development (CALPED), Mr Steven Waya said, they provide technical support towards making life better and bearable for the PWDs.
He called on all stakeholders to collaborate to deepen inclusiveness in all the clusters of the disabled groups in the state.
In conclusion, Mallam Nuhu Ayuba of the Association of Sign Language Interpreters of Nigeria (ASLIN) Kaduna State, said they are here in solidarity with all the disabled group clusters across the 23 local government areas in the state to join in commemorating the International Day for Persons with Disabilities every 3rd of December each year.
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