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By Madu Obi
Persons Living With Disabilities, PLWD, in Anambra State have pleaded with the Anambra State governor, Professor Chukwuma Soludo to give them palliatives to cushion the effects of the removal of petroleum subsidy.
Speaking during a workshop for visually impaired persons at Abagana in Njikoka local government area, the chairman of the group, Mr. Ugochukwu Okeke described their condition as precarious and enjoined the state government to make exclusive plans for them under the prevailing circumstances.
Okeke said: “We want the state government to make the proposed palliative plan inclusive.
What I mean by inclusive plan is to make sure that if they are setting up any committee for any palliative disbursement, they should largely accommodate persons with disabilities because we are the worst hit of this economic crisis Nigerians are facing.
“If the government is planning for the people, they should get us involved. The era of government thinking for us has gone. They should bring us to the table so that we will tell them exactly what we want and how we want it.
"The subsidy removal is particularly hitting our members. Some of our meetings are no longer taking place because our members cannot afford the transportation fare to come to our various meeting points.
Those meetings are helping us a lot to be able to assess our members’ needs. “For the past three months now, we have not been able to meet because our members could not afford the high rate of transportation.
"If it can affect some of us that are working to that extent, how much more those that are not doing anything.”
He urged the governor to begin the intervention by his administration with the less privileged, vulnerable groups, and persons with disabilities to make the programme more effective.
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