By Danjuma Attah, Gombe
No fewer than 150 Persons With Disabilities (PWD) from the eleven Local Government Areas of Gombe State received mobility aid courtesy of the North East Development Commission (NEDC).
Expressing his gratitude to the Commission, Gombe State Chairman of the joint association of persons within disabilities, Adamu Isiyaku Gombe described the gesture as one of the success stories of the NEDC.
According to him, most of the aids distributed to the PWD’s which include artificial legs, crutches and wheelchairs were extremely expensive for them to acquire and so, commended the commission for distributing them free.
He particularly commended the Managing Director of the NEDC, Mohammed Goni, for recognising that persons with disabilities were also affected by the insurgency that has ravaged the region, as such, they have enjoyed assistance of food and many other things at different times.
He appealed to the commission to also look the way of other categories of PWD’s such as the blind, deaf, albinos in assisting them with aids that will make life easier for them particularly, students among them.
Adamu said as vulnerable persons in the society, the commission should also factor PWD’s when allocating houses from it’s ongoing construction of low cost houses.
He said the distribution was done based on persons with dire needs. “When we receive items like these, we have a committee that identify persons with dire need, those who cannot afford it.
“We also focus on those that are workers and those going to school to aid their movement before we then focus on the elderly who don’t go out most often.
“In each of the eleven LGA’s, three persons got a wheelchair, five persons got crutches, five persons got artificial legs (below and above the knee). In total, about 20 persons benefited from each LGA while Gombe LGA got 30 because of it’s population”, Adamu explained.
Presenting the items to the benefiting PWD’s, the Gombe State Coordinator of NEDC, Rufai Lawan Baba-Manu, explained that one of the reasons for the intervention by the commission is to avoid discrimination of persons with disabilities.
He assured that the commission will in due time come with intervention for those impaired by sight. “We want them to feel being part of us, make them feel belonging”, Rufai stated.
One of the recipient of the intervention, Abdulaziz Bello Herwagana, who got an artificial leg, thanked the NEDC for coming to their aid and encouraged his fellow PWD’s to accept their plight in good faith as God never makes mistakes in allowing them in their situations.
