3rd November, 2010
President, Mobility Aid and Appliances Research and Development Centre, MAARDEC, Cosmas Okoli, has declared that efforts aimed at achieving the United Nationâ€
Disclosing this in Lagos at a press conference to announce the first ever Ms Wheelchair Nigeria pageant, Okoli lamented that more than 20 million Nigerians living with disability have been sidelined in an effort to eradicate extreme poverty which is one of the key goals of MDGs before year 2015.
“The people living with disability are highly marginalised and excluded in the effort to eradicate extreme poverty as set through the Millenium Development Goals, MDGs. How can you eradicate extreme poverty if not by creating jobs, training people through acquisition of skills? But when carrying out this, people with disability are sidelined,†Okoli said.
“When it comes to employment and they advertise for jobs and our people apply, they do the written test and come out in flying colours. During interview, they are dropped. Not bcause they did not do well in the interview but because they now realise they are people living with disability. Why should that be? he asked.
—Funsho Arogundade
