As part of activities to mark this year’s International Day for people living with disability in Kebbi State, the wife of the State Governor, Hajia Zainab Nasare Idris early in the week distributed a total sum of N100 million to 1,000 people living with disability across the state.
Nasare Idris stated that the incumbent administration of her husband is deeply committed to improving the livelihood of persons with disability and providing them with the requisite education to become productive members of the society.
She directed that each beneficiary selected from the 21 Local Government Areas in the state should go home with N100,000 to engage in profitable ventures for self-reliance.
The Star First Lady told the gathering that, the gesture was in furtherance of the policy thrust of her husband, Governor Nasir Idris, to uplift the welfare of persons with disability.
“My husband’s administration is providing care to members of PWDs group like other segments of the society.
“He has established a Commission for Persons with Disability to look after their welfare we want you to enjoy life like your abled body counterparts with determination to take you off the streets and minimize the incidence of begging.
“The authorities will monitor how each of you utilises the N100,000 given to you at the end of the year, we shall inquire from your leaders what you have done with the money,” she said.
She said further that you must not continue to be a nuisance or burden on other people through persistent begging, urging them to invest the money in profit-oriented ventures.
In his speech, the Chairman of the Kebbi State Persons with Disability Rights Commission, Alhaji Anas Malami Gwandu, thanked the wife of the governor and her husband for placing a premium on the wellbeing of all persons with disability, encompassing the blind, lepers, deaf and dumb, people with paralysis.
“The establishment of the Commission provides the opportunity to persons with disability to perform optimally to capacity by becoming fully integrated into the mainstream society.
“The Commission is therefore cautioning people living with disability in the state to abide by the rules and regulations concerning street begging,” he said.
The Emir of Gwandu, Alhaji Muhammadu Iliyasu Bashar represented by the Ubandoman Gwandu, Alhaji Sadiq Ibrahim Sadiq, acknowledged the commendable efforts of the wife of the Governor and her husband for their care for persons with disability, orphans and the needy in the state.
The Monarch advised beneficiaries of the fund to reciprocate the gesture by engaging in profitable ventures and shunning street begging.
The Commissioner for Special Duties, Alhaji Zayyanu Umar Aliero, and the Special Adviser to the Governor on Special Duties, Alhaji Shafi’u Zauro, Both appreciated the State Governor and the First lady for their philanthropic gesture over the years to orphans and persons with disability.
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