A 24- year-old physically challenged lady, Aishat Ayedun, has appealed to the government to help people with disabilities in acquiring entrepreneurship skills, as well as establishing them for productive life.
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Ayedun, who just gained admission to read education at the University of Benin (UNIBEN), made the appeal during her matriculation ceremony at Federal College of Education, Akoka, Lagos, an affiliate of UNIBEN.
She noted that people with physical challenges must have something they are doing, either going to school, learning handiwork or trade and entrepreneurship.
The lady urged people in her shoes to showcase themselves because they are also human beings and they have rights like other people.
She said: “I feel bad when I see people with disabilities like me hiding themselves under the roof at home.
“Government at all levels should assist people with disabilities, to make them self independent rather than sitting at home jobless or begging for alms.”
Ayedun, who narrated how she came about with disability said: “ I was not born with disability, but between 2012 and 2013, when I was in JSS 2, I started noticing pain at my back and gradually it started getting worse to the stage of using clutches, until she found herself on the wheelchair.”
She advised people with disabilities to be determined and pursue their dreams by learning handiwork to support themselves.
She added: “At the initial time, I get tired when I am walking and if I force myself not to rest while walking, I may fall down and from the medical report, they call it spinal tuberculosis.
“Despite my condition, I didn’t stop my education, I continued with the help of people around me.
“I started teaching young students to do their assignments and my ambition is to become a teacher. That was how I garnered the courage to go to school.
“I know learning is a continuous process. I will still like to study more till I get my masters.”
Guardian.ng