Members of the Bauchi State chapter of the Association of People with Disabilities (APWDs) have criticized the state government for distributing food items as palliatives without allocating any to them.
They are, therefore, calling on Governor Sen Bala Mohammed Abdulkadir to urgently investigate how the items, including some money, were distributed across the state by the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs and Disaster Management.
Abdullahi Isma’il, Chairman of the APWDs, responded to reports of the completion of the distribution of palliatives by the Ministry, as published in various media outlets, stating, “It’s sad that the vulnerable group and persons with disabilities didn’t receive their share of the palliatives.”
He says, “We’re the right people to be considered first before any other group in the state. We were initially advised to be patient, with the assurance that the palliatives would reach us after being distributed to all 20 LGAs in the state. Unfortunately, this did not happen.”
Abdullahi Isma’il added, “We patiently accepted their decision, but, in the end, nothing was given to us. Only a few members selected during the commissioning of the palliatives received anything. After the commissioning, the distribution stopped.”
“Let the truth be told. She (the commissioner) needs to do the right thing. Denying persons with disabilities their rights just because she has a small issue with them will not earn her any honour,” he declared.
The PWDs Chairman stated, “We thank His Excellency, Sen. Bala A. Mohammed, for releasing the palliatives for persons with disabilities, but let him know it hasn’t reached us yet. Thanks.”
Responding to a comment by one of the Commissioner for Humanitarian Affairs and Disaster Management allies, Hajara Yakubu Wanka, Bashir Hassan, and Abdullahi Isma’il wrote, “Yes, sir, I understand you clearly. If they can go around and distribute the palliatives to all 20 LGAs, they can at least do the same by allocating 5% of the palliatives to disabled people in their respective LGAs.”
He said, “The committee also failed to include persons with disabilities to work with them. Nothing about us without us, sir.”
He added, “Another simple way to ease the sharing is that the committee is supposed to send disabled palliatives to the Bauchi State Agency for Persons with Disabilities, where the sharing will be easier.”
“Finally, I would like to use this medium to advise the state government to conduct a special census for persons with disabilities through the Bauchi State Agency for Persons with Disabilities,” he stressed.
He opined, “This will help the state government to know the exact population of persons with disabilities in the state. It will also help the government to know those who are employed, unemployed, educated, uneducated so that they can all be well accommodated.”
According to him, “Our palliatives were also hidden somewhere, sir. The media should help us to tell them to release it for us, please. Besides, our account details were also collected for payment out of the palliatives money. Neither the money nor the foodstuff was given to us. The media should help us, please. Thanks.”
“Sir, I also forgot to add that, during the commissioning of the palliatives at ATB Stadium, His Excellency, Sen. Bala A Mohammed announced the release of 6,000 bags of rice with #60,000,000 for persons with disabilities only, but nothing was given to us by the committee for the palliatives,” he alleged.
According to him, “Another sad thing is that, after our caring Governor commissioned the palliatives, he said that 200 bags should be given to persons with disabilities along with N10,000 cheques as part of the commissioning before sharing the 6,000 bags of rice and money.”
Abdullahi Isma’il said, “It’s disheartening that they didn’t comply with what His Excellency announced. He decided to collect all those N10,000 cheques from all those PWDs. What a sad moment.”
Bashir Hassan, in his response, assured that, “Abdullahi, this message will be channeled to her (Commissioner), rest assured. But you should understand that even if the entire 100,000 bags are given to PWDs in the state, it will still not be enough to go around each of them.”
He added, “And don’t forget that there are other vulnerable groups apart from PWDs that need the palliatives too. Our population in Bauchi State is close to 6 million people, out of which a greater part of that number is living below the poverty line.”
According to him, “I want to say, without any fear of contradiction, that the distribution committee has done its best in the equitable sharing of the rice palliative, but certainly, you can’t expect it to reach each and every PWD in the State.”
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