Sen. Shehu Sani on Tuesday in Abuja presented electronics items worth N10million to the management, staff and students of the FCT school of the blind.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN),reports that the items presented included television sets, deep freezers, among other visual aids equipments.
“I visited the FCT school for the blind two weeks ago and leant that the school had been in existence for three decades.
“After interacting with management and students, I felt sad.
”it is that understandable when elderly people can not see, but most pathetic, when children become blind.
” It means they will leave the whole of their lives without knowing the world they live in, without knowing how a human being looks like, without knowing how an animal look like.
“As a child that is blind, you grow in an environment that you cannot differentiate between the colours of green, blue, white and red, that is the tragedy of life,” he said.
He said the students had requested for three items, noting that he would provide the items in three phases.
The senator said he was amazed and wondered how young children that were blind could watch television.
Sani, however, said after a discussion with management, teachers and the students, he was meant to understand that the students would like to listen to sound and speeches on the television even when they are visually challenged.
He said the next phase of the presentation would be the provisions of customised laptops, IPads for the school.
He assured the management that after the customisation the laptops,it would be presented to the school before resumption of the students from the holiday.
Sani said the upkeep of any physically challenge child should be the responsibility of everyone in the society, hence Nigerians owe it a duty to help them by making life comfortable.
Sani said assisting the physically challenged persons was his own personal conviction about life, saying that more of the assistance was oncoming.
He said, even though he would not be able to give them sight to see the world, to see nature, to see the sun, moon, stars, he would contribute his quota to make life comfortable for them, as long as they remain students of the school and after their studentship.
He thanked the Almighty God for providing the grace to provide the items and promised to do more for the school.
Sani also thanked the Federal Government for establishing the school of the blind, where blind young children can be admitted for free and receive special attention.
This,he said was helping to give meaning to their lives.
He said it was incumbent on all Nigerians to take it as a responsibility to support people living with disability as not doing so portends a gap in ones lives.
“If you have God inside your mind,If you have human sympathy, if you have humanity in you, you should not see this as what you can wave off your face as sight is one of the most important aspect of human live after life itself.
“I will use this opportunity to appeal to every one in the society to support the institution of the blind.”
Mrs Pauline Okafor, who is visually challenged and a Teacher in the school, said she lost her sight when she was five years.
According to her, the children in the school need the television, deep freezers and other items to feel good just as other children, saying that God has been using kind hearted Nigerians to help her and and other blind children in the school.
She commended Sani for his gestures to the school, saying that his gestures would put smiles to students.
She prayed for Sani for his humanitarian disposition(NAN)
