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24 — Vanguard, THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 12, 2019 Why we want everyone involved in #FollowDisAct project for PWDs — Odumakin By Ebunoluwa Sessou As part of efforts to make inclusion of Persons With Disabilities PWDs, a reality in the policy of Nigeria, #FollowDisAct was recently launched to cater for the engagement of PWDs through advocacy programme called ‘Project Enable’. The ‘Project Enable’ is a community development initiative founded in 2014 to advocate for the rights and empowerment of persons with disabilities in Nigeria. The programme is designed to address discrimination of PWDs in the country, since, it is believed that everyone deserves quality of life and that no one should be discriminated against on the basis of their disability. Speaking on the project, the chairman of the board, Dr. Jo Okei Odumakin, disclosed that, #FollowDisAct Campaign was coined from Follow the ‘Discrimination Act’, which has been designed as a 5-year campaign project to coordinate a national efforts to push for the full implementation of the Discrimination against Persons with Disabilities Prohibitions Act. According to her, “With this campaign, we would have reached about 100million people before expiration of the five-year project and as much as possible, we want to advise that everyone should be involved, that way, the bill itself that was recently presented to the national assembly will not die on arrival. "It is a wakeup call and I think, it is a wakeup call and we will engage government and ensure we deliver what the bill entails. “In the last five years, we have stayed true to our goal which is to promote the rights, empowerment and social inclusion of persons with disability; we have done that by engaging policymakers and various stakeholders within the community of Persons with Disability, PWDs towards advocating for inclusion both at policy and inspiration level. “We have also been instrumental in providing direct and indirect empowerment opportunities for persons with disabilities in areas such as ICT; web design, graphic design, digital business marketing, vocational, entreprenuerial, digital, leadership and advocacy. “As we celebrate our 5th anniversary, we are inspired to strengthen the advocacy for PWDs with the official launch of the Inclusion Hub, the first in Nigeria alongside the #FollowDisAct Campaign. “On the accountability of PWD especially the unlearned, she said, FollowDisAct campaign is inclusive on both learned and the unlearned PWD. We have all materials in whatever language suitable for anyone because we know that sigmatisation happens in * Chairman of the Board, Enable Project and President, Women Arise for Change; Dr Jose Okei-Odumakin (2nd right); Managing Director, Development Communication, Mr Akin Jimoh; and Founder, Enable Project, Mr Olusola Owonikoko, during the launch of #FollowDisAct at the inclusion hub in Lagos recently. remote areas. Some of the PWD members have been treated as outcast, witches, some of them have committed suicide as a result of being humiliated. We will ensure that we reach all the nooks and crannies of media organisations and it will be done in major languages. “The Bill was recently passed into law in January 2019 as a federal legal framework that promotes the social inclusion of persons with disabilities across all sectors and levels in the As part of measures towards addressing poverty among women who are estimated to constitute a larger percentage of Nigerians living above the poverty line, Inner Wheel District 911 Nigeria, last week, flagged-off a two-month vocational training for fifty women and girls drawn from across various local governments in Lagos State. Among practical skills taught at the training currently on-going at the Festac-based vocational centre of the district include make-up and gele tying, fashion designing, cake making, and pedicure/ manicure. According to the District Chairman, Mrs Adejumoke Odulaja, who urged the participants to learn with zeal, the training, which was in fulfillment of promise made at her investiture ceremony to train 50-100 women, was also a continuation of the district’s empowerment initiative which has remained part of yearly activities in the last 35 years. “I want you to utilize this society”, she said. Olusola Owonikoko, founder and Project Director, reiterated that, FollowDisAct Project has been designed to monitor, track, report and drive the implementation of the newly assented Discrimination against Persons with Disabilities Prohibitions Bill, 2018. “The goal of the campaign is to engage all stakeholders from the private, public and civil society sectors. The campaign would be implemented at a national level across the six geopolitical zones in Nigeria. “In addition, the campaign will monitor track and report progress in the implementation of the disability bill through a dedicated PWD desk that will produce regular reports. We will be hosting stakeholders’ fora within one year, towards engaging with various stakeholders including labour, traditional, media, religious, private sectors among others on the need for a socially inclusive society and services”, he said. On the method of disseminating the messages, he said, “We will commence the animation series to explain the bill in different languages including English, Yoruba, Igbo and Hausa. We are not only going to be using the social media but we will make use of radio as a source of disseminating information so that everybody will be carried along. “Our message is that of social inclusion and we will be working with private organisation to make processes accessible. We will be doing lot of connecting physically challenge persons to job opportunities”, he noted. One of the participants, Folashade Salimonu, a broadcaster with Lagos Television, expressed her satisfaction with the programme. “It is something that people with disabilities have been expecting that people will come together to support us in the area of inclusion. This is a step in the right direction and it is my hope that it will grow and they will do more for PWDs. “PWDs are also part of the society. We pray that the federal government that enacted the law will start to implement. We appreciate Lagos state for what it is doing for people with disabilities, we are expecting more, we want to be empowered and we want people to deal with us as Nigerians. “We want corporate organizations to employ persons with disabilities who are qualified. Show empathy to them, empower them so that they can contribute their own quota to the growth and development of this country and Africa at large” she added. Inner Wheel moves to tackle poverty among women …begins 2-month free vocational training By Josephine Agbonkhese opportunity judiciously because opportunity comes once most times. With the current economic hardship in the country, this training can enable you to start off something from which you can support your family. The beautiful thing about vocational skill acquisition is that even if you travel abroad eventually, you will find these skills useful,” she said. Stressing that such free vocational trainings ought not to be taken for granted by beneficiaries, Odulaja said: “Even though this training is given to you free of charge, some persons paid the financial cost to make sure you are trained. I want you to therefore not render their investments a waste.” She assured beneficiaries that at the end of the twomonth training, they would be given free start-up kits that would enable them establish their various businesses. Meanwhile, the Project Committee Chairman, Kafilat Afodun, and Co-chairman, Magdalene Adegoke, told Woman’s Own that the selection process for participants was devoid of bias. “You only need to be ‘interested’ to be part of the exercise. These women and girls were gathered from the 17 Inner Wheel Clubs in Lagos State. We appreciate spirited Nigerians who supported this project and wish more would come on board so we are able to train and empower more women and girls to own their own businesses and come out of poverty,” Afodun added. *Mrs Adejumoke Odulaja, Chairman, Inner Wheel District 911(8th right) flanked by some beneficiaries of the free training and members of the district during the flag-off in Lagos recently.
Vanguard, THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 12, 2019 — 25 We created "It's New to Me' to clear stigma against ‘used item’ buyers – RCCG COD Parish By Chris Onuoha When Pastor Iluyomade of the Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG), City of David Parish was thinking of easy means of helping the less privileged in the society, little did he know that a business model he created to that effect will eventually change the perception and stigma attached to “second hand” items sold in the country. For him, it was a vision he had to help the needy in the society. However, it has become a general rallying point. ‘It’s New To Me’ as a brand name, is a group of charity shops set up by His Love Foundation, the charity organisation of the Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG), City of David Parish Victoria Island, Lagos. The shops operate a unique business model, in that they sell fairly used clothes, household and other items donated by church members at a little amount to the lessprivileged members of the church and society at large,” says Olubukola Aneke, the Chief Operating Officer. Mrs. Aneke who took over the head of the trading outfit about 5 years ago said: "The primary aim of this initiative is basically to demonstrate the love of Jesus Christ by changing lives. I started overseeing the brand’s affairs about 5 years ago when the shop was re-launched. Back then, I worked as a volunteer till I was officially appointed to become the Chief Operating Officer.” *Olubukola Aneke According to her, the shop is retailing donated items from RCCG church members and anonymous donors who are not members of the church. “We use the proceeds of the sales for charity works and other interventions in the church. This implies giving out free funds to indigent people among us in the church to cater for school fees of their wards, and other needs. It’s been impactful, wonderful and fulfilling. We have given people hope, wiped tears and made peoples’ wishes come to pass in the process,” Aneke said. She also disclosed that beneficiaries of the ‘Its New To Me’ project comprise both members and non members of the church. Citing a particular instance, she said a widow from a wealthy family whose life dwindled after her husband’s death had a new lease of life when she discovered and started patronising the shop. The shop to her was a great relief as she was able to make up her old lifestyle once again with items from the shop. To her, it was goldmine to see and purchase those kinds of clothing and items she was used to when life was good at a little or no cost. “The name “It’s New To Me” apparently implies something that is old to you but could be new to me. In other words, anything that one does not attach much interest to; not necessarily bad anyway, but may have lost its appeal could be a new item to someone else. We don’t see our stock here as old, though it may be outdated but could still be appealing to someone. Expansion Drive “One of the reasons for relaunching is to expand our outlets. We however, focus on Oxfam that has about 750 shops globally as our benchmark. We have outlets in Akoka, Ikoyi and Ikorodu alongside the main shop here in Victoria Island. We will keep expanding to reach out to the needy in the country. We have items and clothes for as low as N100, N200, and N300. And it also depends on items value but everything is relatively cheap. We do not stock lowquality items because the calibers of people that drop items at our drop box are mostly high society and influential people. Some of our stocks are brand new items that the owners do not have any need for. Using Oxfam as our benchmark, we want to stem the stigmatization among users of fairly used items in our society making it obvious that there is nothing wrong is buying what someone else does not need. Mrs Aneke explained that the church is making sure that all members are involved in touching lives through free donation of items to the shop’s drop box. “We do not intend to import goods for this purpose but we embark on sensitization drive so that members donation will saturate the shops,” she said. Location and visibility Although this is Pastor Iluyomade’s initiative at the City of David which has became an entire RCCG’s project. It is meant to be a Christian Social Responsibility of the church and so far, every branch of the church is bound to open a shop. For donors, we have established a relationship with church members and they do bring things. What we do is to announce and it serves as a reminder that the shops exist. The shop is for the general public and not for RCCG members alone. We are not concentrating on the highbrow areas alone. We plan to go into places that are occupied by lessprivileged individuals where RCCG planted churches. We are also planning to embark on road walk to create awareness about the existence of the shop. *Wife of Kebbi State Governor, Hajiya Aisha A. Bagudu (middle), and others during an empowerment programme for physically challenged women Why MALLPAI cares for almajiri —Aisha Bagudu By Kabir DanKatsina, Birnin Kebbi. The mass literacy for the less privileged and Almagiri Initiative, MALLPAI Foundation initiated by Her Excellency, the wife of Kebbi State Governor, Hajiya Aisha A. Bagudu, is aimed at empowering less privileged in the society and other people who need help. Since 2009, the programme has been an avenue to restore hope to the hopeless as well as making humanitarian service a way of life. According to Hajiya Bagudu, the reasons for initiating the foundation was her twenty years' experience in humanitarian work applied in various business areas such as production manufacturing and management for having being a successful business woman and humanitarian track records, possessing a desire to succeed and target driven wire community development ethic, programmed implementation of researched and successful grassroots initiatives with entrepreneurial input to pioneer growth in communities, mostly rural areas. Speaking on her behalf, her press secretary, Hajiya Safiya Abdullahi said the foundation has rendered humanitarian services in sectors including health, education, agriculture and social lives. On health she said the foundation has purchased drugs and hospital equipment worth five million naira and provided them to clinics, maternity and health clinics in Bagudu, Suru, Birnin Kebbi, Kok/Besse, Argungu and Ngaski local government areas of the state. ‘’MALLPAI also distributed free drugs to the five Fulani communities particularly Barbarejo, Aljannare, Bagudo, Dakingari and Dalijan”, she said. On education, the foundation has converted 10 Tsangaya schools to modern in rural areas adding that in Bagudo and Ka’oje communities, the foundation provided the schools with skill acquisition equipments such as knitting, soap and barbing machines and teach were recruited teaches pupils on how to learn soap making, barbing and knitting during their non- working hours that is Thursday and Friday as 100 were graduated in these skills. ‘’MALLPAI did not stop there, it also empowered and taught about fifty students in Public Schools on how to produce chalk, color, pencils and shoes and after their graduation provided them with equipment free of charge”, she noted. Similarly, she stated, ‘’On agriculture, the foundation has assisted over 100 Youths in the State particularly in rural communities in Illo, Lolo Gwandu and Bunza on dry season farming and provided them with farm inputs which at the end of their cultivation, produced over 200 bags each of paddy rice, soya beans and sorghum”, she added. According her, “On RUGA rehabilitation, the foundation has rehabilitated over forty Fulani communities in the State where it constructed clinics, schools, open wells and accommodation in each of these communities. “The foundation has empowered persons with disabilities with clothing, food stuff and mobile machines during Ramadan fasting periods while at the state’s orphanage home, Her Excellency, Hajiya Aisha Bagudu is always visiting there and donating relief packages such as food stuff, clothing materials and cosmetics for female members”, she concluded.
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