As part of activities to mark this year’s Sallah, FCT Minister of State, Dr. Ramatu Tijjani Aliyu, has distributed assorted food items and cloths to persons living with disabilities in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).
Also, the minister used the occasion to reaffirm the commitment of the FCT administration in the empowerment of persons living with disabilities, and to ensure that they are not only self reliant but employers of labour.
The minister who stated this at the Old Parade Ground, Garki, Abuja revealed that the administration has commenced profiling of persons living with disabilities and training in various skills acquisition programmes in line with one of the core mandates of the Social Development Secretariat.
Her words: “As you can see, we are here with persons living with disabilities in the FCT. In the spirit of Sallah celebration, we are here to reach out to the less privileged in the society.
“We are profiling all of them to ensure that we capture them, and at the same time prepare them for empowerment. They are being trained in the acts of soap making, cream making, detergents, beads, shoes, bags, to ensure that they earn a living by themselves and by extension become employers of labour. Not only will they become gainfully employed, they will be self employed.
“When this happens, they will be off the streets. We want to take them off the streets systematically by engaging them, by making them appreciate themselves and realising the value within them. We have discovered graduates among them, some are certificate holders”.
Aliyu, further assured that upon graduation, the administration would secure a market and the enabling environment to market their goods to the benefiting communities.
In her response, the chairperson Network of Disabled Women, Mrs. Lois Auta-Udokanta, thanked the minister for using the occasion to cushion the effect of post COVID-19 in the lives of persons with disabilities.
She said, “This is very huge, and we are very proud of FCT minister of state for this huge contribution in the lives of persons with disabilities. This will go a long way to cushion the effect of post COVID-19 in our lives.
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