Stakeholders have praised the Centre for Citizens with Disabilities (CCD) for its efforts in promoting disability inclusion in Nigeria.

The people made the commendation at a “Beneficiary experience sharing forum,” organised to commemorate the 65th anniversary of the Ford Foundation West Africa Office.

The two-day event, organised by CCD in Umuahia, brought together civil society organisations, ministries, departments and agencies of government, the media and organisation of persons with disabilities in the South-East.

The CCD is a non-governmental organisation, established to protect, promote and empower persons with disabilities (PWDs) as well as ensure their full inclusion in government and development process across Nigeria.

The stakeholders, who were beneficiaries, shared their experiences of the impact of the Ford Foundation-funded projects implemented by CCD.

They affirmed that CCD had been advocating the inclusion of PWDs in various sectors, including education, employment, and healthcare in the South-East and Nigeria in general.

In a keynote speech, the Abia Commissioner for Environment, Philemon Ogbonna, thanked Ford Foundation for its partnership with CCD and “in so doing, touching the lives of our people immensely.”

Turning to the PWDs, Mr Ogbonna said, ” Governor Alex Otti takes you very seriously, which is why he created the Abia State Disability Commission, with one of your erudite members as chairman.

“The government has incorporated into its laws that public buildings are retrofitted to accommodate ramp facilities for ease of access to our disability community.”

In a remark, the Chairman of the Abia State Disability Commission, David Anyaele,  acknowledged the exceptional work CCD had done in the state over the years with the support of Ford Foundation.

According to Mr Anyaele, the centre has been able to build the capacity and resilience of PWDs around issues of Industrial Act, access to public infrastructure, as well as understanding their role and responsibility in increasing their voice and visibility.

He said, “Ford Foundation through CCD built the capacity of PWDs within the South-East for them to be able to stand and push and be resilient enough to maximise the opportunity and skill they have acquired. The essence is to bring good governance to the disability movement.

“Most of the states that are here have passed the Disability Law and this stems from that capacity that was strengthened, which helped them to push and to demand for inclusion and implementation of their laws.” 

Also, Chairman, National Association of Persons With Physical Disabilities, Abia  State chapter, Iroabuchi Alozie, said that CCD had been the driving force behind the effective implementation of Ford Foundation’s programmes 

“In Abia and across Nigeria, the Ford Foundation’s strategic support has strengthened advocacy for disability rights and has promoted meaningful representation of PWDs in governance and public life 

“It has fostered capacity-building initiatives that empower our members to not only speak for themselves but also influence decision-making processes that affect their lives and communities,” he said.

The Chairman, Joint National Association of Persons with Disabilities, Anambra, Uzuchukwu Okeke, described Ford Foundation as “an organisation that has been intentional in promoting equitable participation of PWDs in all areas of society.”

Mr Okeke commended CCD for collaborating with the foundation to make sure that PWDs were inclusive in every programme and activities in Nigeria.

He said, “CCD has assisted us to have Anambra State Disability Rights Law and they also mobilised to observe the election, which has increased the participation of PWDs from 20 to 35 per cent.

“The centre has also built our capacity to be able to engage effectively and constructively and this has enabled us to discuss the issues of PWDs at local and state levels. Now, we have a good number of PWDs being employed in the state workforce.”

Earlier, the Acting Director, CCD, Mr Godwin Unumeri, said that the workshop was convened to get the impact of the support the centre had given to beneficiaries since it first received support from the foundation.

“We are celebrating an organisation, the Ford Foundation, that has been in Nigeria, working in West Africa as a whole, for a whole of 65 years.

“They thought it wise to look at what they have done over the 65 years by giving grants to various organisations, which the CCD is part of, to assess the impact of their support to PWDs across the West African sub-region,” Mr Unumeri said.

(NAN)