People Living With Disabilities (PLWDs) in Benue State have hailed Governor Hyacinth Alia for his efforts in promoting the rights of persons with disabilities in the state.
The state chairman of the Joint Association of Persons with Disabilities (JONAPWDs), Onah Adeyi, who gave the commendation during a press conference in Makurdi, thanked the governor for taking the plights of persons with disabilities with all seriousness, describing the governor’s action of assenting to the Disability Law as a historic achievement that will not be forgotten in a hurry.
The association, therefore, promised to support the re-election bid of the governor in 2027.
Adeyi said, persons with disabilities constitute 15 per cent of the Benue population which ought not to be dismissed by the wave of the hand during elections and governance but the journey of inclusivity through the disability law began during Governor Gabriel Suswam’s administration.
“We want to also extend our appreciation to the Benue State House of Assembly, the media, civil society organisations, especially the Aza Gbagyo Foundation, for their sustained support which has brought us to this success”.
“Your excellency, like Oliver Twist, we are also appealing to you not to relent in ensuring that the disability commission is as well established as soon as possible with all its establishment structures as enshrined in the Constitution.
“To the entire disability community, I want you to support the Governor in whatever way you can in his quest to bring back the Benue of our dreams especially in his bid for inclusive governance. I want to thank you for your resilience and determination, your voices have been heard and your rights are now protected by law.
“Over 800,000 persons with disabilities in the state will benefit from this landmark legislation that will put Benue State on the positive map of states that have domesticated the disability law as a step in the annals of disability inclusion in Nigeria,” he said.
Earlier, the executive director of Aza Gbagyo Foundation, Barr. Mtemdoo Gbagyo, who commended Governor Alia for cutting short the journey of decades in a few weeks, said, “history will not forget you.
“I want to sincerely thank the governor for taking upon himself the plight of persons with disabilities and making Benue to be among first states to domesticate this law. We know how we were struggling front and back to ensure the domestication of this law year in year out, disability persons have a lot to offer for the development of the state and country. They should not be looked upon with pity, but with strength to enable them to bring out the abilities in them.”
