Some persons living with disabilities (PwDs) in Ikole-Ekiti on Tuesday, August 8, 2023 appealed to the Ekiti State Governor, Mr Biodun Oyebanji, to make provisions for palliatives for them, to cushion the effect of fuel subsidy removal.
A cross section of the physically challenged individuals who spoke with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Oye-Ekiti said they were currently experiencing hardship and did not have money to buy foodstuffs.
One of the PWDS, Mr Sodiq Haruna lamented that the cost of living for him had become unbearable as he could no longer eat twice daily. He said many residents who always gave him money to feed were no longer giving him because they hardly had enough for themselves.
Haruna appealed to the state governor, Mr Biodun Oyebanji, to assist the PWDs with palliatives especially with food items to enable them feed to be alive.
“Honestly, this is the worst period of my life, I eat once in a day and hardly have N500 to buy food.
“Some of my friends are equally experiencing even worse hardship because they are blind and find it difficult to move around freely to find food to eat.
“ I just want to beg our governor to give us palliatives so that hunger will not kill disabled persons in Ekiti,” he appealed.
A visually impaired person, Mr Moses Godwin, said that he could not engage in any job because of his inability to see. He appealed to both the local government councils and state government to consider the PWDs in the community for palliatives.
Another physically challenged/orthopedically disabled man, Mr Sola Ogunniyi, said the cost of food, drugs and transportation were no longer affordable for him. He noted that the decision of the Federal Government to remove fuel subsidy was good but relief packages should have been, first of all, provided for the less privileged ones.
“As I speak to you, the cost of food has become too expensive for me to buy because as a shoemaker, I am currently experiencing low patronage as a result of lack of money.
” The decision by the Federal Government to remove fuel subsidy is a good development but some of us who are disabled need government financial support to fend for ourselves,” he said.
Ogunniyi appealed to Gov. Oyebanji to give priority to the welfare of persons with disabilities in Ekiti. Similarly, Mr Godswill Ekemefuna, another physically challenged man, appealed to the state governor to approve palliatives for PWDs in the state.
He noted that they were the most vulnerable to the current challenges in the country and needed support from both the federal and states governments.