Persons Living With Disabilities Have Been Elevated Under President Buhari, He Is One Of Us – Dr. Samuel Ankeli

Persons Living With Disabilities Have Been Elevated Under President Buhari, He Is One Of Us – Dr. Samuel Ankeli

By, Uchechukwu Ugboaja

The Senior Special Adviser to the President has stated that President Buhari has elevated the lives of people living with disability because we regard him as one of us. He made this statement during a program organised for physical challenged staff of the Federal Civil Service in Abuja.

According to the presidential aide, all policy makers especially the legislators must endeavour to promote a disability inclusive development in Nigeria as the plight of these persons are almost forgotten by Nigerians.
He described the President’s current state of health as a blessing in disguise especially for persons living with disability, because it has somewhat brought attention to them as a vulnerable community in the country where they have been abandoned by previous governments.

“Some people have been criticising the President for being sick but they seem to forget they President Roosevelt of America governed his country from a wheel chair, are we not mortal beings? Anyone can be sick, so why is there so much hue about his state of health?”

“Yes the President went for medical treatment abroad and he is back, in fact we can regard him as a person temporarily living with disability, so we see him as one of us because he will take care of us better. I can assure you all that the Presidency will sanction any Ministry, Department or Agency that refuses to discharge this mandate to persons living with disability, they must all carry you along in all their developmental programs and if they refuse to simply report them to us and we will take them up,” he said.

While addressing members of his primary constituency at the event appealed to the leadership of the National Assembly to expedite action on the passage of the Disabilities Rights Bill. According to the SSA, he claimed that it is the right of Nigerians living with disability to have their own commission.

He also said that God will not be happy with the National Assembly if they refuse to pass this bill which will enable persons living with disability to join other Nigerians in enjoying the country. He further urged all persons living with one disability or the other to keep praying for President Buhari because God specifically brought him to lead this nation at this point for their sake and assured them that the President would not fail them.

“Finally I want to assure you all that this administration is an all inclusive one and all programs in the CBN, Bank of Agriculture, NPower Empowerment as well as other safety net programs that the federal government have put in place will surely involve you all. In fact my office is working in collaboration with the United Nations to carry out a capacity building program for you.”

“I want to particularly appeal to the media to also support us in this advocacy project as it concerns the disabled community in Nigeria, we need a specific budget that will address issues of disability in the country. It is the media that will let the global community especially donor partners come to our aid. More important is the role of states and their assemblies to enact laws that will protect persons with disabilities. Nigeria is a state member of a treaty signed into law about 10years ago of a convention to protect the rights of persons with disabilities and as you can see we have even violated this treaty as far as the rights of persons with disabilities are concerned and it is our desire to quickly see what we can do and make amendments.”

It would be recalled that the office of the SA to the President on Disabilities partnered with the Chairman of the Presidential Committee on Rehabilitation Alhaji Iliasu O. Rauf to provide over 5,000 bags of rice and other food items to persons with disabilities during the recent Salah holiday which was distributed at the Federal Secretariat Abuja.

The Chairman of the Presidential Committee stated that there is need to embark on the amnesty of forgiveness in the country because Nigeria has all it takes to accommodate everyone regardless of their divergent views. His appeal was hinged on the fact that with the current hate speech being peddled in different quarters could lead to a crisis which will directly affect people living with disability as they will definitely be the most vulnerable in such situation.