The Lagos State government, through the Office for Disability Affairs (LASODA), has offered funding assistance to various disability groups to enhance the promotion of advocacy towards advancing the course of people with disabilities in the state.
The beneficiaries of this gesture who received the cheques of N1 million each for their respective groups include the Down Syndrome Foundation, the National Association for the Blind, the Dwarfs Association of Nigeria, Dyslexia Nigeria, and the Joint National Association of Persons With Disabilities.
Speaking after the presentations, the General Manager, Lagos Office for Disability Affairs, Mrs. Adenike Oyetunde-Lawal, said that the essence is to create platforms to further push the disability agenda forward and foster greater understanding within the community.
Oyetunde-Lawal, who was represented by the agency’s Director of Administration and Human Resources, Mrs. Omolade Sonubi, explained that the support is to strengthen the scope of advocacy and cushion the efforts of awareness of the disability groups.
“In October, we had the Down Syndrome awareness month and government has said let us give something to the association to continue the awareness, also we are talking of association of the Blind, where we celebrated white cane awareness week.
“So as we hand over this fund to you, it is our belief that you will continue in the area of awareness and this will make people to appreciate us more. Also will continue to appreciate the government as an agency, as we promise to continue to advocate for policies and initiatives that promote inclusion in our society,” she said
Besides the cash presentation, the Albinism Association of Nigeria were given special protective kits to cover their skin from the sun. these include Umbrellas, hats, Efudix creams, sunscreen lotion among others, to commemorate Albinism Week.
Director, Finance and Accounts, Mr. Adesola Akinbule, who joined in the presentation, urged the beneficiaries to use the fund judiciously and target the purpose it was meant for.
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Good gesture
Responding to the gesture, the Deputy Chairman, Nigeria Association of the Blind, Lagos State Chapter, Adeola Aina, said the support grant from LASODA would go along way to fast track the delivery of some of their activities as the year comes to an end.
He said the fund would go to school outreach, teachers and parents training just to ensure that they understand the plights of persons with disabilities in Lagos.
He said, “We will continue to use this fund to advocate for the betterment of blind community in Lagos State and we will continue to create awareness of blindness and how to cope with unavoidable loss of sight in the society.”
Grateful heart
Similarly, the President and Founder of the Dwarf Association of Nigeria, Mr. Israel Olujidi lauded the support of the administration of Babajide Sanwo-Olu through the agency, “LASODA has done wonderful things for us, two weeks ago they gave the Dwarf Association N500,000 and today we are collecting N1m to create awareness about the association. We are indeed grateful,” he said.
Others appreciated the state government for the support, which according to them will go a long way toward providing awareness about most of the challenges being faced by the disability clusters.
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