Abia State governor, Dr Alex Otti, has approved the establishment of the National Commission for Persons with Disabilities’ (NCPWD) zonal office for the South East region in Umuahia, to support Persons with Disabilities (PWDs).
Governor Otti, who received a delegation from the NCPWD, led by the executive secretary, Hon Ayuba Gufwan, at the Government House, reaffirmed his state’s commitment to the principles of inclusion in all ramifications.
He noted that he is pleased to approve the commission’s zonal office in his state because the people and government of Abia State as presently constituted do not discriminate in any guise against the PWDs community, women or relate to persons based on religious considerations or where they come from.
The governor further stated that he prides himself as an inclusive governor which he has demonstrated by appointing the Head of Service of the State from a state outside of the southeast zone.
“I appreciate the visit of the NCPWD and wish to state that the government of Abia State is one that does not discriminate against persons with disabilities, women, or relate to persons on the basis of religion or where they come from but purely on principles of meritocracy. I am proud to state that I appointed a Head of Service in the state who is not from the southeast or Abia,” he said.
The governor, who was conferred with the honour of the ‘Pillar of the Rights of Persons with Disabilities in Nigeria,’ by the leadership of the commission, reassured the over 35 million PWDs in Nigeria of the state’s support noting that within the next three months, his government would provide a befitting office for the zonal office and the newly created Commission for the Welfare of Disabled Persons in the state.
According to Governor Otti, the zonal office complex will be befitting and a thing of pride to the PWDs community and a reference point in the entire nation.
He encouraged PWDs not to see their condition as a death sentence or give up but persevere to achieve their goals in life. “Disability does not make one condemned or disabled but one must rise above that and move on,” he stated.
The executive secretary, NCPWD, Hon Ayuba Gufwan, thanked the governor for the gesture and expressed profound appreciation for the donation of the office building which he said would serve as the southeast zonal office.
