Calabar ------------ The Vice Chancellor of the University of Calabar, UNICAL, Prof. Florence Obi, has called for special care, acceptance and attention for persons with special needs in the country.
Obi, spoke on Friday in Calabar, when members of the Albinism Society of Nigeria, Cross River Chapter, paid her a courtesy call in her office, noting that she was passionate about helping people with special needs.
She said that people with special needs occupied a ‘special place in her heart, pointing out that, as Professor of Special Needs Education, she would stop at nothing to project and protect their interests.
Her words, “As a friend of persons with special needs, I am a professional in that field and that is the reason why I will create awareness of the existence of persons with special needs and make sure they are accepted in the society.
”Due to the special place you occupy in my heart, my inaugural lecture topic was ‘inclusiveness’ which means that everybody must be carried along despite circumstances of birth, race and colour.”
Describing those with special needs as an integral part of the society, Prof Obi urged them to embark on aggressive sensitisation and advocacy campaigns in urban and rural areas to enlighten the populace on their strengths and capabilities to ensure that they take their pride of places in the society.
Obi stressed that a disability policy for the university has been sent to the university’s senate for approval, pointing out that, the policy spells out all that the institution needs to do in taking care of people that are special in different ways.
Prof. Obi also spoke on the “Vice Chancellor’s scholarship programme”which would commence in 2023 for best academic performance and urged them to key into the initiative.
Earlier, the Coordinator of the Albinism Society in Nigeria, Cross River Chapter, Mr Bassey Mbang, had commended the VC for exhibiting a high sense of commitment, dedication and discipline in the discharge of her duties.
Mbang said that during the VC’s inaugural lecture, the association was thrilled and full of joy when she presented herself as a friend and lover of persons with special needs in the society, adding that Albinism was a genetic disorder that causes a decrease in the production of a pigment called melanin in the skin, hair and eyes, resulting in light colour.
He said that people with Albinism were often faced with restriction, stigmatization, discrimination, misunderstanding from their communities and persecution, stressing that attacks against people with Albinism have been reported in the country while bullying and name-calling as ‘white he goat” were very common for children with Albinism.
To stem the ugly developments, Mbang called for the support and collaboration of relevant stakeholders including the institution.
He, however, used the opportunity to appeal nfor the speedy implementation of the People with Disability Law, which grants access to employment opportunities for those with Albinism, even as he also, appealed for scholarships, donations of umbrellas, hats, sunscreen creams, and sunshades for children with Albinism, especially those in schools.
