Author: Nefisetu Yakubu

Centre trains 140 CSOs on disability-inclusive programmes in Benin

Training

By Nefishetu Yakubu (08035625662)

Benin, June, 28,2024(NAN)The Center for Citizens with Disabilities (CCD) on Friday concluded a four-day training  of 140 Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) and Public Institutions officers on disability-inclusive programmes and practices.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the training for the officers from Edo and Abia took place in Benin.

It was done in collaboration with Project Enable Africa with support from the US – Alumni Engagement Innovation Fund.

The theme of the training was: Promoting inclusive economic opportunities and community resilience for Persons with Disabilities.

The training, which was broken into two parts, also had Persons with Disabilities (PWDs) trained on Rights Advocacy and Advocacy Action Plan.

Speaking during the training, Mr David Anyaele, the Special Adviser to Abia State Governor on PWDs, said the centre had picked 70 CSOs each in Edo and Abia.

Anyaele, who is also the Director and Founder of CCD, said the capacity building for CSOs would help them know the key issues affecting persons with disabilities in their states.

“We recognized that Edo has passed disability law and for it to be implemented, the civil society must be in tune  with the rules and how to go about helping the PWDs advocate for their rights.

“The disability community is made up of people who cannot walk, hear and see, therefore we are involving CSOs to appreciate the key issues concern in our efforts to promote inclusive economic opportunity and a community that is all inclusive.

“And to do this, we need to build the capacity of the CSOs.

“The response we have gotten from here shows that the civil society are really committed in ensuring that the vulnerable group are not left behind.

Speaking on the topic, Inclusive budgeting, Anyaele said government at all levels must take proactive measures to ensure that their budgeting process recognized the needs of vulnerable groups in the society.

“When we say inclusive budgeting, we are talking about a process of generating, interpreting, programming and designing budget that takes the critical importance of physical responsibility in government .

“What we are doing here today is to build the capacity of CSOs to champion inclusiveness of PWDs in budgetary allocations, ” he said.

Also speaking, Ms Florence Attah, the Programme officer of CCD, disclosed that over 29 million Nigerians live with one form of disability or the other.

The CCD Programme Officer, who quoted the 2018 World Bank statistics, noted that the figure might have increased.

She, however, lamented that the lack of comprehensive database of PWDs had made it impossible to get the accurate data of PWDs in the country.

The Acting Director of CCD, Mr Godwin Unumeri took participants through policy analysis and engagement with a charge to the CSOs to ensure policies of government were all inclusive.

Comrade Bartholomew Okoudo, President, Conference of Non-Governmental Organizations CONGOS and Aliu Akokhia, Executive Director, Sustainable Health Family and Maternal Support Initiative commended the centre for the capacity building workshop.

They noted that the training was not just only a refresher course but impacted on them those things they were not conversant with, especially the Inclusive-budgeting for PWDs.(NAN)
(www.nannews.ng)
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Edited by Joe Idika

Database

By Nefishetu Yakubu

Benin, June 26, 2024 (NAN) The Center for Citizens with Disabilities (CCD) has called for a comprehensive database of Persons With Disabilities (PWDs) in Edo.

The centre also charged state governments to develop and implement budgetary policies that put PWDs into consideration.

CCD acting Director, Mr Godwin Unumeri, gave the charge in Benin on Wednesday at a two-day training for PWDs on rights advocacy and advocacy action plan.

Unumeri called on the Joint National Association of Persons with Disabilities (JONAPWD) in Edo to work with the government to come up with a comprehensive database of PWDs.

The database, he said, would aid planning.

According to him, state governments must ensure that PWDs are carried along in their budgets, right from planning to the implementation stages.

“They should also provide them with easy access to all public infrastructure.

“As of today, there is a gap; the prejudice is still there. The various state governments have to address this gap.

“They must ensure that budgets are addressed in a way that will affect persons with disabilities; the male, the female and everything about PWDs.

“Budgets are tools that affect your lives. So, PWDs-inclusive budgets need to involve them right from planning to implementation.

“If you leave it to the governments alone to do it, they might be inclined to budget for only those visible to them at the planning stage.

“Insist that everything you need is included in the budget,” he said.

On her part, the Chairperson of JONAPWD in Edo, Ann Ojugo, thanked CCD for the training.

According to her, the training will help them leverage advocacy to champion their rights. (NAN)(www.nannews.ng)

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Edited by Ayodeji Alabi and Moses Solanke

Drugs

By Nefishetu Yakubu

Benin, June 26,2024 (NAN) The Speaker of Edo House of Assembly, Mr Blessing Agbebaku has called on the Federal Government to declare a state of emergency on substance abuse and illicit drugs trafficking in Nigeria.

The speaker, made the call in Benin while addressing a rally organised by Smile Africa International Youth Initiative, an NGO, to mark the 2024 International Day against Drug Abuse.

“I am sad and concerned about the drug abuse pandemic the country is grappling with; and we should be passionate about the health of our youths,” he said.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the participants of the rally were at the Edo State House of Assembly to mark the day usually celebrated on June 26 every year.

Agbebaku who was represented by the Deputy Speaker, Mrs Maria Oligbi-Edeko, said a state of emergency was the only solution towards tackling the menace.

Agbebaku said that drug abuse and illicit drug trafficking were the bane of criminality in the state and nation at large.

The speaker described drug traffickers as the worst criminals that should not be tolerated in any community that wants to make progress.

He explained that hard drugs presents multifaceted challenges that touch the lives of millions of people, adding that the impact of drug abuse is far-reaching and complex.

Agbebaku listed some of the problems associated with drug abuse to include individual struggling with substance use disorders and struggle with consequences of drug trafficking and crimes.

“If you have been following the house activities, you would know that the house has passed several resolutions on the need to prevent drug abuse and trafficking.

“Today, we are sad that drug is destroying communities in the country and everyone is pretending not to see it.

“Drugs are now being sold freely in certain locations in the state and yet not much is being done to check the menace,’’ he said.

The speaker suggested that the federal government should declare a state of emergency to effectively deal with the situation.

Agbebaku assured that the house would join to carry out sustained enlightenment campaigns against drug abuse and illicit trafficking.

“Taking to drugs is a journey of no return; rehabilitation does not often solve the problem, so we need to speak out to prevent our children from the menace,’’ he said.

Earlier, the Executive Director of Smiles Africa International Youth Development Initiative, Mr Purpose Iserhienrhien, said they were at the assembly complex in support of the fight against drug abuse and illicit trafficking in the state.

Iserhienrhien said that the day afforded them the opportunity to call for collective action to combat the scourge of drug abuse and illicit trafficking.

“The impacts of drugs extend beyond individual users to the entire societies; it threatens the health, safety and prosperity of our population,” he said.

The speaker called on the state government to invest in prevention programmes to address the challenges posed by drug abuse. (NAN)(www.nannews.ng)

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Edited by Francis Onyeukwu and Emmanuel Afonne

Estimated

BEDC, MOJEC begin installation of prepaid meters in 10,000 households in Edo

Meter

By Nefishetu Yakubu

Benin, June, 24,2024(NAN)The Benin Electricity Distribution Company (BEDC) Plc on Tuesday began the installation of prepaid meters in 10,000 households in Edo to eradicate estimated billings.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the initiative tagged: Get metered in 24 hours will be carried out within 10 days.

It is being done in collaboration with a meter manufacturing firm, MOJEC International Ltd.

BEDC operates in Edo, Ondo,Delta and Ekiti states.

The Team Lead, MOJEC international Ltd, Titilope Oyelade, said the metering process was a win-win for BEDC and its consumers.

“It will help the BEDC to recover its lost revenue from their consumers while the consumers will pay what they consumed instead of getting bills what they did not consumed, “she said.

Oyelade urged electricity consumers to leverage on the ongoing exercise to get their houses metered.

She added that the prices of the prepared meters would be reviewed monthly as stipulated by the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC).

In her remarks, the Head, Branding and Corporate Communications of BEDC, Mrs. Evelyn Gbiwen said the initiative was a significant step towards closing the metering gap in BEDC franchise states.

Gbiwen noted that the initiative would help address the long outstanding issues of delayed meter installations.

She said that BEDC was committed to working with partners like MOJEC company to ensure that it consumers received quality services in a timely manner.

According to her, an initiative such as this will help to reduce operational challenges and ultimately contribute to a more efficient, measurable and reliable electricity supply in BEDC franchise states.(NAN) (www.nannews.ng)

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Edited by Joe Idika

PWDs

By Nefishetu Yakubu

Benin, June 24, 2024 (NAN) The Center for Citizens with Disabilities (CCD), on Tuesday, trained Persons with Disabilities (PWDs) on Rights Advocacy and Advocacy Action Plan in Benin, Edo.

The theme of the exercise training is: “Promoting inclusive economic opportunities and community resilience for Persons with Disabilities”.

The exercise is being implemented in collaboration with the Project Enable Africa with support from the U.S. – Alumni Engagement Innovation Fund.

The Acting Director, CCD, Mr Godwin Unumeri said the training was designed to build the capacity of PWDs to be economically resilient to identify advocacy issues.

Unumeri said the exercise would empower the participant to understand the context of advocacy, advocate in a corporate manner and insist on their rights using disabilities’ models to avoid distractions.

“The training will expose participant knowledge that rights based advocacy is for rights of PWDs on the understanding that persons with disabilities are entitled to their rights as contained in the National Disabilities Law”.

On non implementation of the PWDs Law in Edo, Unumeri said the PWDs have not advocated enough to push for its implementation in the state.

“We came here with the mindset that Edo does not have a law that guarantees rights of PWDs in the state.

“We only just got to know from them now that a law has been passed to that effect but has not been implemented.

“What I can say is that the people who advocated for the passage just sat down and watched  after its passage.

“The workshop will expose them to the knowledge of advocacy that will help them push issues in disability law that have been passed and help them articulate themselves in going about the advocacy.

“This training will help the various disability clusters to know that they need to work together to achieve their advocacy objectives,” he said.

According to him, PWDs have the material and human resources within themselves that they are not utilising.

Speaking on the topic, Introduction to Advocacy and Advocacy Action Plan, Unumeri urged participants to always prepare an action plan before embarking on advocacy.

He added that preparing advocacy action plan would help PWDs foster accountability and coordination among team members.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that participants were also taken through Understanding Disabilities Rights and Advocacy. (NAN)(www.nannews.ng)

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Edited by Chioma Ugboma/Rabiu Sani-Ali

Destruction of campaign billboards worries APOSPON in Edo

Billboards

By Nefishetu Yakubu

Benin,June 19, 2024(NAN) The Edo State Chapter of Association of Professional Outdoor Signage Practitioners of Nigeria, (APOSPON) on Wednesday lamented the destruction of campaign billboards across the state.

Speaking with newsmen in Benin,  the State Chairman of APOSPON, Mr Esokpunwu Ekuase, said that the development had negatively affected their business.

Ekuase said that the destruction of the billboards cut across all political parties.

He added that the association would formally write a petition to the Assistant Inspector-General of Police, Zone 5, Benin and the state police command to notify them of the development.

He noted that the practitioners always bear the cost of replacing any billboards already paid for by political parties when vandalized.

“We are using this medium to call on all those going about vandizing and destroying  campaigns/advert messages deployed on our billboards to desist from this act forthwith.

“These structures are our investments and capital intensive. Same can be said of our clients who spend so much money producing advert materials deployed on our structures.

“We cannot fold our hands and watch our investments being destroyed.We are therefore, activating every device to protect our investments and source of livelihood from going down the drain.

“We have been engaged to handle political campaigns over the years, and this year’s should not be different, we are law abiding citizens doing our business legitimately,” he said.

According to him, any person caught perpetrating  or linked to act of vandalism would be dealt with in accordance with the laws of the state.

It would be recalled that the governorship candidate of Labour Party, (LP) Barr. Olumide Akpata had few weeks ago raised an alarm over the destruction of his campaign billboards.(NAN)
(www.nannews.ng)
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Edited by Joe Idika