Blind people protest against alleged discrimination, neglect

The Adamawa chapter of the Nigeria Association of the Blind on Monday staged a protest in Yola over alleged discrimination against their members in government appointments.
Malam Kwada Tizhe, the branch Chairman of the association, who led the protest to the Government House, Yola, told journalists that the State Government discriminated against the members in appointment.
Tizhe alleged that previous and present administrations in the state had neglected and did not pay attention to the plight of blind people and their families.
He said: “People living with disabilities especially blindness are not considered in any government’s employment, despite the fact that there are post graduate certificate holders among them.”
According to the chairman, the blind training centres in the state had been neglected to the extent that some of them were no more habitable.
A top government official, Alhaji Muhammadu Tola, who received the group at the government house, promised that government would look into their grievances.
Tola said: “Government is making all possible efforts to address the situations in a short time.”
On alleged abandonment of the blind training centres, he said that the state government was considering the renovation of the centres in the 2018 budget.
He appealed to the protesters, to be patient with government as their plights were being looked into.