Visually impaired persons urge Okorocha to fulfil promises

The Chairman, Imo Chapter of Nigerian Association of the blind, Mr Christopher Kalu, has urged Gov. Rochas Okorocha to fulfil the promises he made to visually impaired persons in the state.

Kalu said the governor had in January 2011, urged the association to articulate its requests and present same to him, with a promise to tackle them.

He said that Okorocha had promised to establish a Special School for the Blind, employ graduate members of the association and pay bursary allowances to visually impaired students in the association.

According to him, none of the promises have been fulfilled, including non-payment of subventions since 2011.

The chairman said that although the group had been asked to forward names of members eligible for employment in December 2017, no action had been taken since the submission.

“We don’t feel carried along and we want to demand our rights,” he said.

Another member, John Ibeabuchi, also urged the government to empower members of the association to help them become self-employed.

He expressed regret that all the empowerment efforts of the state government had been centred on the able bodied citizens of the state, and urged the government to do more for them.

Reacting to the allegation, the Commissioner for Education, Mrs Gertrude Oduka, said she would direct their grievances to the right quarters for appropriate action.