By Vanguard Newspaper
[dropcap]W[/dropcap]ith over 1 million Lagosians living with one form of disability or the other, Association of Intellectual Disabilities in Nigeria, AIDDN, and the Children Developmental Centre, CDC, have trained parents of children living with disabilities, particularly, cerebral palsy with a view to assisting them in managing their wards living with such conditions.
Speaking at the 2017 seminar organised by the association in Lagos, the Special Adviser on Social Development to the Lagos State Governor, Mrs. Joyce Onofowokan disclosed that presently, over three million persons residing in the state have one form of disability or the other.
Onofowokan said the Governor, Akinwunmi Ambode has also ordered the collection of data of those living in Lagos State so that the state can get the actual figure of persons living with disabilities.
The Governor recently gave people living with disabilities the sum of N500 million to help them establish their own businesses. The government is presently carrying out advocacy to educate people living with disabilities on how to manage them and also how to prevent parents from having children that will later become disabled.
She further disclosed that the government was planning to build an intervention centre in Lagos that will help to diagnose cerebral palsy in new born babies as early detection and treatment will help to reduce the effect on the child as he or she grows up.
Onofowokan advised women to attend antenatal clinics, eat fresh food and avoid junk foods and also avoid three days of labour when they are pregnant, as these, according to her, are some of the causes of children being born with cerebral palsy.
Speaking, the National President, AIDDN, Prince Segun Joseph, said the programme was organised to educate parents with children living with cerebral palsy on how best to manage their wards living with disabilities. Speaking, the Chief Executive Officer, CDC, Dr. Yinka Akindayomi said that Children living with disabilities have the right to live and be educated, hence the need for the seminar.
