The President of the Rotary Club of Abuja Maitama, Rotn. Dinah Achele Akuh has asked Nigerians to rally around Poliomyelitis survivors in the country.
She said polio is not a death sentence and victims should be assisted to live in a normal way.
She said despite the fact that Nigeria is now Polio free, there is need to rehabilitate the survivors.
Akuh made the plea during the presentation of N500,000 empowerment grants to some Polio survivors in Karon Majigi in Abuja for trades and small-scale business.
She said: “Poliomyelitis is not a death sentence. Now that Nigeria is polio-free, we should take care of the survivors and sustain our preventive measures.
” This is why members of the Rotary Club of Abuja Maitama have decided to empower some survivors with N500, 000 capital for trades and small-scale business. We believe the survivors have a right to life too.
” Having satisfied that they have acquired some skills, they need little capital for start-up. We are hopeful that they will succeed in their various trades.
” In fact, one of the survivors, Kabiru Bello has a welding workshop with some apprentices. He is determined to break even and we have given him enough to buy some tools and materials.
“I appeal to all the beneficiaries to make judicious use of the start-up capital. Our monitoring team will keep a close tab on them.”
Akuh said the club will soon embark on the next phase of the empowerment of another batch of Polio survivors.
“The war against poliomyelitis can be finally won if the survivors have a sense of belonging like others in the society,” she added.
A Past Assistant Governor, Rotn. Winny Fonaka said the club was fulfilling one of the seven areas of focus of Rotary International with the empowerment.
” We want these survivors to live normal life. We don’t want them to beg on the streets for anything. We discovered that they are talented and we are empowering them to be useful to themselves and the society,” she said.
