From TCNEWS
It was an all important ground breaking event on Friday, July 25, 2024 as a nonprofit, non-political, voluntary, and nonsectarian Organization known as Spinal Cord Injuries Association of Nigeria, SCIAN Abia State chapter, officially opened its office secretariat in Umuahia.
Records available to our correspondent had it that the Association has been operating without office secretariat which made it difficult for SCIAN and its members to be located in the state before the jinx was broken by Hon. David Onuoha (MC Tallest), the current chairman of SCIAN Abia State chapter.
Speaking during the event, Hon. Onuoha who described the development as the beginning of a new dawn in the history of SCIAN in the state, decried that the challenge facing the association was that some families do not even believe in their people with disabilities.
According to him some families still lock their children indoors without knowing or believing that there is ability in disability and PWDs cannot stay inside one room and be whatever they want to be.
He passionately called for a collaboration with the traditional institution in the rural communities, to help convince such families to bring out the PWDs and challenge them to the fullest, as he strongly believe that they will get good results.
Onuoha stated that, “Inefficient transport system for SCIAN members has remained one of our major challenges. Persons with Spinal Cord Injures spend more than double what an abled person spend in transport and overall movement. It’s hard for them to be commuted on public transit, because of the peculiar nature of their case, where they have to carry with them wheelchair”.
He passionately called on the government, donor agencies and well-meaning Nigerians to assist the Association with a Bus, to ease the movement of members and also help equip their office with laptop, desktop computer sets for learning, and digital printers.
The SCIAN Abia State chapter chairman, who also disclosed the pet project of Association primarily designed to train members in ICT, fashion and designing, welding and fabrication of wheelchairs, sports, rehabilitation/ gymnastics centre, wound care centre and high capacity music instrument learning/recording centre, also appealed that the association be supported with sewing machines, welding machine, generator and solar system, and a plot of land for permanent site.
Onuoha maintained that, “SCIAN Abia State chapter members are innovative and are specially endowed. We have intellectuals across board, in all disciplines and facets of life. We also have the will power and capacity of getting things done excellently. All we need is your unalloyed support in all ramifications”
He argued that SCIAN which is the mother cluster to JONAPWD, having been in existence before the formation of JONAPWD, an umbrella Organization of Persons With Disabilities, should be treated fairly and respected too.
In their respective speeches during the event, the Chairman of Abia State Disabilities Commission and the Senior Special Assistant to the Governor on Disability matters, Mr. David Anyaele and the representative of the State Commissioner for Sport, appreciated the efforts to the SCIAN chairman and reiterated the stand of Governor Alex Otti’s administration not to toy with the affairs of the PWDs.