By our Reporter
With less than a month to the much publicised Ekiti Governorship election coming up on June 20, a Non- Governmental Organization, The All-Rights Foundation, TAF – Africa says a total of 25 language interpreters will be deployed to provide assistance for Persons With Disabilities PWDs.
Dr Andrew Adaji, the Programme Manager with TAF Africa, made this known in Ado-Ekiti on Friday, at the third day grand finale of the statewide enlightenment campaign on it’s “Able2Vote” Community Outreach’ For Persons With Disabilities (PWDs in Ekiti State’, aimed at educating and sensitizing the PWDs for the poll exercise, embarked upon since Monday.
TAF Africa, formally known as”The Albino Foundation’, says it’s interest in the election, is borne out the need to make every living individual that is of the electoral age participate in the exercise without let or hindrance.
Speaking at the programme held at Hassanah Event Centre, Adaji said those selected for deployment would serve as interpreters at polling booths, as per the pressing need in every polling centres.He added that intensive trainings, already arranged for them, would start next week .
He explained that the organization would have loved to have up to 50 of such specialists in language interpretation at reasonable number of polling centres in the state, but regretted that only 25 could be sourced.” The train will move round the state to sensitize, as well as mobilise persons with disabilities.
“We are doing all of these because, perhaps many Nigerians do not know, Persons with disabilities account for about 25% of Nigeria’s entire population .
“This is why we keep saying it that contrary to wide-held impression, PWDs do not need special schools again, because by doing so, you are already stigmatising them.” Therefore, people should stop using the acronym, “School For The Deaf”, “School For The blind”, and so on.
“Rather, what we expect Governments at all levels to do, is to create the habit of putting both the PWDs and the non PWDs children in same school, but have ready teachers to teach, according to their areas of need for every child”, he said.
Adaji commended the current peaceful atmosphere in Ekiti, saying what he had been witnessing along with his other colleagues since arrival for the programme on Monday, showed that Ekiti is not likely to have any form of upheaval as far as the governorship election is concerned.
“I have been monitoring elections in Ekiti, marred with one form of violence or the other, but I am surprised that this is the first time I will be witnessing a peaceful pre-election period. I also hope this scenario plays out during the real election.He cautioned Nigerians, irrespective of their social status to always accord PWDs, the the respect they deserve in the comity of other nationals, rather than stigmatise them.
“On the side of God, we are all equal. Nobody must be discriminated against, because the way we look, is principally the making of God’, several millions of PWDs in Nigeria are of the voting age.
“To verify my point, currently in Ekiti, over 900 of the figure are already validated in Ekiti, and many more are still not yet captured, tasking others who are yet to do necessary things with INEC to do so without wasting time any further”.
