Eliminating banditry will involve making use of every single body in Nigeria

By Ayo Akinfe 

(1) For the first time in a long while, Nigerians are actually debating the way forward for their nation. This Fulani herdsmen saga has forced everyone to accept that the economy simply cannot be run the way it is if the nation is to get out of her current rut 

(2) Most of those armed herdsmen who have been apprehended have made it clear that they received no education or vocational training and have not been equipped with any skill whatsoever. It is obvious that unless you address that matter, no matter how many of them you arrest, the conveyor belt will just keep producing them 

(3) Getting Nigeria working actually also involves getting all our beggars, disabled, special needs people, mentally challenged and the infirm engaged in productive endeavours. Now and again we see some overture to the disabled but does the government actually have a coherent disability policy that is sustainable?

(4) This week, the speaker of the Federal House of Representatives Hon Femi Gbajabiamila appointed Abdulsalam Idowu Kamaldeen as his special assistant on special needs/equal opportunities. We must ask though, is this just a publicity stunt or a genuine move towards addressing the issue of disability in Nigeria 

(5) For starters, why did the speaker not buy this gentleman a wheelchair before naming him as his assistant? Just imagine how dignified Mr Kamaldeen would look if he took these photos in a motorised wheelchair 

(6) Is there also any reason why Hon Gbajabiamila has not purchased prosthetic limbs for Mr Kamaldeen? We should be seeking to make the point that despite having a disability you can still function and be economically active. Having a man on the floor simply does not portray that image. I find it very demeaning and undignified

(7) Do you know that in the First Republic, we actually had leper’s colonies across northern Nigeria. Unfortunately, we did not built on this and train them as these colonies were just a place where “outcasts” were taken to. In a more humane clime, they would have been taught vocational skills with a view to fully integrating them into mainstream society

(8) In the run-up to Festac 77 too, the government established a Beggars Camp at Gbagada in Lagos State. Unfortunately, this did not last either. It should have been a platform upon which we would eliminate begging across Nigeria 

(9) Do we actually keep statistics of the number of infirm, disabled and mentally challenged in our society? We have to ask ourselves how Europe managed to cope with all the injured of World War Two in 1945. They were treated and integrated into society, becoming economically productive. There is a template there, we just have to follow it 

(10) Maybe as a starting point, we can ask all governors to rename their security votes as disability votes. Let us spend that money on the disabled, infirm, mentally challenged, etc as a first step

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