Chief Sunday Adeshina, the founder of the Helping Hands for the Blind has appealed to the governor-elect in Kwara, Alhaji Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq to appoint a Special Adviser on Disabled Affairs as a way of addressing the basic needs of people with disabilities in the state.
Adeshina made the appeal in a statement made available to journalists on Monday in Ilorin.
According to him, doing so will be a way of emulating President Muhammadu Buhari and some state governors that appointed special aides to look into the needs and general affairs of the disabled.
He also sought for the rehabilitation of the Kwara School for the Handicapped, saying that the school had not enjoyed any form of renovation since it moved to a permanent site in 1980.
“Most of the structures including hostels, classrooms, administrative block and staff quarters are begging for complete renovation and rehabilitation”, he said.
He, however, applauded the outgoing government for giving enough food subvention for the feeding of the students as well as the provision of teachers with a reasonable number of handicapped teachers to the school.
Adeshina, who is a former Principal of the school called for the reorganization of the school to separate the section for the deaf and the blind.
“This makes it not to be in line with modern trends of special education. For example, the idea of administrating the school for the deaf, school for the blind and school for the mentally retarded is old fashioned.
“The three schools are long overdue to have separate administration in different locations and in different local governments so that each school can meet their needs.
“The blind, the deaf and mentally retarded cannot cohabit together harmoniously under a single administration.
“It is therefore recommended that the three schools are located in three different local governments where each with its special designed curriculum will be met in accordance with its handicapping condition”, he said.
The Deputy National President of the Nigeria Association of the Blind asserted that the state School for the Handicapped had a unique position in Nigeria being the first school for the disabled to operate a full boarding system for its students.
While he congratulated the governor-elect on his political victory, he urged him to consider the demands of the disabled in the course of his administration.
