NAN-H-69

Blind
Zaria (Kaduna State), March 15, 2017 (NAN) The National Association for the Blind (NAB), Kaduna North Senatorial District chapter, has appealed to the state government to provide free education for its members.

Malam Dalhatu Muhammad, its chairman, made the plea in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Wednesday in Zaria, Kaduna State.

“Providing free education to the visually impaired, from primary level to university, will not only give them a sense of belonging, but make them self-reliant.

“It is very sad to note that blind people in Kaduna State pay more than N20,000 to write senior secondary certificate examinations organised by WAEC and NECO.

“It means that those of us, who have no means of paying, have to resort to begging.

“Many blind people you see roaming about the streets are not happy to beg. They are merely desperate to survive because they have nobody to support them.

“This scenario will continue for a very long time because many blind people are not being assisted by anyone,” he said.

Muhammad also pleaded with government to build rehabilitation centres and schools for the blind in the senatorial district so as to encourage them to study

He said that the northern senatorial district had “only one” rehabilitation centre, compared to other senatorial districts in the state.

“The central and southern senatorial districts have four rehabilitation centres/schools each, but we have only one rehabilitation centre cited at Alhudahuda College, Zaria,” he said.

According to him, the centre in Zaria caters for  male blind persons only.

“It means that there is no provision for the female blind person in the zone.

“The situation has forced the females among us to travel to far distances in search of education and other facilities; that requires a huge amount of money,” he said. (NAN)
KLM/OFN/ETS

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Edited by Felix Nwadioha and Ephraims Sheyin