Wife of former Vice President,
Atiku Abubakar, Chief (Mrs.) Titi Atiku Abubakar has advocated for legislation
that will make it compulsory for government to extend social help to vulnerable
and special needs in Nigeria.
Mrs Abubakar spoke as Chairperson,
Board of Trustees of the Hope House Initiative, a school for vulnerable
children at the 10th year anniversary and fund raising for new
building and state-of-the-art facilities of the school at the Shehu Musa
Yar’Adua Center in Abuja today.
The International Day of
People With Disability is a day that has been promoted by the United Nations
since 1992.
According to Mrs. Atiku
Abubakar, “the aim of the Day is to encourage better understanding of people
affected by a disability, together with helping to make people more aware of
the rights, dignity, and welfare of disable people."
According to her, "children
and young people with learning difficulties may not be able to easily adjust to
a normal educational environment; they need acceptance, special care, patience,
empathy and love to meet their learning needs."
She observed that "our
educational system for children, as it is today, is not favourable and
conducive for these children. Often unable to fit into conventional schools
because of peer discrimination and learning difficulties, these children can
only progress through special education especially when coupled with training
in life and vocational needs."
"Government has no
school anywhere for this category of individuals and they do not enjoy the
protection and full benefit of Nigeria’s Child Rights Act as enshrined in our
constitution under Sections 4, 13, 15 and 16 due to their inability to cope
with the conventional school system. We are not going to keep our eyes open and
watch these things happen and still close our hearts. Nations are rated on the
degree of care they give to the most vulnerable groups of their society,” she
said.
Speaking in the same vein
the Chairman of the occasion, represented by Chief Patrick Chidolue said that
government has been focused on making laws that strengthen the strong to the
detriment of the weak.
He noted that every society
is accessed based on how well they provide for the weak.
If this legislation is
passed it will be the second time that Mrs Atiku Abubakar has initiated and
pushed for the passage of legislation for vulnerable people in the National
Assembly. The first was on human trafficking and child labour eradication bill
which passage into law led to the creation of National Agency for the
Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP). Mrs Atiku Abubakar is also the
founder of Women Trafficking and Child Labour Eradication Foundation (WOTCLEF),
a progenitor of NAPTIP.
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