Lagos APC Deaf Group seeks more inclusion in governance

The Deaf Group of the Lagos State chapter of the All Progressives Congress on Tuesday appealed to President Muhammadu Buhari to assent to the Disability Bill when it is transmitted to him by the National Assembly.
The Secretary of the group, Ademola Adeyanju, made the appeal at a news conference in Lagos, where an interpreter was also present to aid communication.
He said that this would not only give more opportunities for people with disabilities, but further address the issue of discrimination against them.
Adeyanju said that the APC, however, had made tremendous progress in disability affairs, especially with the appointment of Dr Samuel Ankeli as the Special Adviser to the President on Disability matters.
He said many APC states had also appointed special persons for one post or the other.
Adeyanju pointed out that the party was the only one to have included people with disabilities in their structure and organogram.
According to him, the APC was also the first party to accommodate and integrate persons with disabilities as part of its National Executive Committee and National Working Committee.
He said as commendable as these were, there was still the need to do more to carry people with disabilities along.
Adeyanju thanked Governor Akinwunmi Ambode for his support, but appealed to him to appoint a Special Assistant to interpret some of his speeches and campaign messages to the deaf people in the state.
He said the deaf people are an important category of people in the state politically, who only need support to participate more in the electoral process.
As campaign period draws near, Adeyanju urged the party in the state to employ sign language expert to help interpret campaign messages to the deaf.
The group’s secretary complained that the group had no office presently, appealing to the party to provide them with an office from where they could plan their activities.
He also canvassed for support for a bus and tools like computers with which they could ease mobilisation of their members for party activities.
Adeyanju said the group was planning some training programmes for members on how to participate in the electoral process and called for support from the state government and the party.
He said but for hearing impairment, deaf people were qualified to hold political offices, appealing to the party to allocate a quota of political offices to the group and other people with disabilities in the state.
He said: “Yes, we know we have hearing problems, but we can tell you we are as qualified as people who can hear for political offices.
“Some of us are very educated and have what it takes to lead and deliver good governance.
“Therefore, we are appealing to the party to give us our own quota of political offices.
“It could be one or two councillorship, council chairmanship or the state assembly seats; we just want more inclusion in governance.
“Our members have done a lot to support the party in elections and we want the party to recognise our efforts the more and give us a sense of belonging.”