Abuja’s disabled people call for govt support

The Chief of the Disabled Emirate Council, a group of all persons with disabilities in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Alhaji Mohammed Sulaiman Katsina, has appealed to the government to provide alternative accommodation and empowerment for its members. Alhaji Katisna said this would be a lasting solution to the menace of street begging and hawking […]

The Chief of the Disabled Emirate Council, a group of all persons with disabilities in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Alhaji Mohammed Sulaiman Katsina, has appealed to the government to provide alternative accommodation and empowerment for its members.
Alhaji Katisna said this would be a lasting solution to the menace of street begging and hawking in the territory.
Katsina who spoke through his secretary, Mohammed Dantile ,at his palace in Karmajiji said persons living with disabilities have been relying on the support of good spirited Nigerians without enough succor from the government.
He said many of the disabled are well skilled in various crafts but needed empowerment in order to properly fend for themselves, adding that begging for alms was not a pleasurable thing.
Alhaji Bala Jubril, the chairman of the Blind Network, another sub- group for visually impaired persons said the government had not done enough for them.
He commended the efforts of the FCT Administration to sanitizing the territory but added that for such moves to be successful, the plight of the disabled ought to be considered.
“There was a time they gave us information that they would build a place for us, they came and took photographs but until now, nothing has been done since 2008,” he said.
Jubril who spoke in Hausa said they were looking forward to see a different approach to issues concerning people living with disabilities under the ‘change’ administration of FCT Minister, Muhammad Musa Bello.
“Government did not like begging but they did not assist us. It is from the little we get that we educate our children and feed our families. If you go there for assistance nobody will assist you yet they don’t want begging,” he lamented.