Ikeja – Gov. Babatunde
Fashola of Lagos on Monday
inaugurated the board of the
state Office of Disability
Affairs responsible for
protecting the interests of
people with special needs.
The seven-man board
includes a blind person and
three crippled people.
The boarded is headed by
Mrs Tolulope Animashaun.
Fashola said at the
inauguration in Ikeja that the
board and the office should
ensure that people with
disabilities were not
discriminated against.
The governor said that
although Nigeria's
Constitution prohibited all
forms of discriminations
against people with
disabilities, the society had
not done much to adequately
protect their interests.
He said that the government
enacted the People with
Disabilities Law in 2011 in an
effort to correct the
imbalance.
"We all know how the
society has responded to the
physically challenged; the
society has always thought it
is enough to give them alms.
`But, knowledge has shown
that what they need is a level
playing ground — level
enough to give them the
opportunities to be able to
carry on with their lives,'' he
said.
The governor said the
government put more people
with special needs in the
board because "they know
where the shoe pinches"
and should be able to carry
out the assignment better.
Fashola said that the
government had ensured
that roads and public places
built in the past few years
had facilities such as
walkways and rams for easy
use by people with
disabilities.
He urged the board to carry
out its assignment diligently
to have much positive
impacts on the lives of
people with special needs.
Responding on behalf of the
board members,
Animashaun thanked the
governor for his compassion
for people with disabilities.
She pledged that the board
would justify the confidence
reposed on it by the
government and the general
public. (NAN)
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