Social protection inclusion manager, Action Against Hunger International, an NGO, Mrs. Gladys Esther Ahuwan has called on Nigerians to use persons with disability in promoting national development in the present democratic dispensation.
Speaking to newsmen on the International Day for Persons with Disabilities held in Kano Tuesday, Ahuwan said exploiting such opportunity has become imperative at the time it was discovered that persons with disabilities had been endowed with wonderful treasures in almost all spheres of human endeavour, adding that as valuable human capital, they are useful to the nation.
According to her, “persons with disabilities had greatly proven their mettle and industry the world over, as their enterprise cut across human strata, ranging from the professional circle to the academia, where they are found to be useful and indispensable.”
She said there was the compelling need for persons with disabilities to rise to the challenge of being known and identified as worthy citizens of the country in order to promote national development, pointing out that without their being identified they would not to be adequately assisted to develop and use their respective talents.
“We are graciously marking the International Day for Persons with Disabilities with pomp and pageantry for them to have a clear sense of belonging. No responsible society will love to ignore their talents and endowed treasures. They have all that is needed to propel our country to greater height.
“That is why we keep emphasising that they should come out and join the fray for their skills to be exploited. They are too important to be ignored by the society. They are human capital like any other human capital. We are celebrating the day as a wakeup call for future struggle,” she said.
Speaking in the same vein, Kano state chapter of the National Association of Women Journalists, Hajiya Bilkisu Ado Zango, said she was confident that the Ganduje administration had some things for persons with disabilities in the offing, stressing that as a leader worth his onion, he had demonstrated his resolve to make them relevant and indispensable.
