Nigeria and the Japanese Government have signed a grant agreement worth 350,000,000 Japanese Yen, equivalent of N600 million or $3.7 million to support physically challenged Nigerians.
The support, which will be implemented through the Ministry of Women Affairs, is for the procurement of wheelchairs and walking support wheels for people with physical disabilities in Nigeria.
The agreement was jointly signed by the Minister/Deputy Chairman, National Planning Commission, Dr. Shamsuddeen Usman, on behalf of Nigeria and Ryuichi Shoji, the Japanese Ambassador in Nigeria, on behalf of the Japanese Government.
Speaking at the signing event, Usman commended the effort of the Japanese Government to provide the support to physically challenged people in Nigeria and also described the intervention as significant to a sector that needed support.
“We are grateful for this important contribution to a sector that needs support,” Usman stated.
Shoji recalled the Great East Japan Earthquake, which took the lives of tens of thousands of people in the area and caused tremendous damages to a wide range area in the North East Region of Japan.
He pointed out that the grant is designed to support the promotion of the economic and social development of countries by utilizing the products made after the great East Japan earth quake, especially in Thoku region, where the local corporations are striving for reconstructions.
While thanking Nigeria and other countries that offered assistance to them during the disaster, Shoji stated further that Japan has made good progress over the past two years soon after the disaster when the reconstruction works started.
Items to be purchased by the grant includes 2,220 units of wheel chairs, 740 units of walking support (clutches) and 740 units of walking support (clutches).
Fifty units each of wheel chairs will be distributed to all the 36 states and the FCT by the Ministry of Women Affairs.
