Mr Tunde Ogunrinde, an aide to Gov. Kayode Fayemi, has appealed to parents and guardians to desist from hiding their children living with disabilities.
Ogunrinde gave the advice in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Ado Ekiti on Tuesday.
He said that such children should be enrolled in special schools to acquire education.
He spoke on the sideline during his visit to some of the schools for People Living with Dissabilities (PWDs) in the state.
Ogunrinde, a Senior Special Assistant to the Governor on Disability Matters, berated parents, who allegedly abandoned their children when they realised they had one form of disability or the other.
“I am aware of some women, who abandoned their disabled children for their husband and eloped with other men.
“There are many others who use their children to beg on the streets. This is not good. “Government will not condone this any longer. Disability is not next to uncleanliness.
“Why will you abandon your child or ward with disability or hide them at home, when you can easily take advantage of numerous facilities provided for them by the governor?
“PWDs have equal rights as their able-bodied counterparts and can contribute their quota to the nation’s development, if given the necessary support,” Ogunrinde said.
He, therefore, urged parents and guardians to take advantage of the free education programme of Fayemi’s administration in special schools in the state to enroll their children.
According to him, their feeding and maintenance are taken care of, while government also pays their West Africa Examination Council, National Examination Council and Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examinations.
Ogunrinde said the children were entitled to scholarship when they get to higher institutions.
“But if they want to learn a trade, there is a Skills Acquisition Centre solely for PWDs located along Iworoko Road, Ado Ekiti for learning different kinds of trades,” he said.
Responding on behalf of the schools, Bolutife Taofik, a student at the School for the Blind, Ikere-Ekiti, thanked the state government for the free education for all the special schools.
He appealed to the state government to help renovate the schools, saying some of the facilities had become old and dilapidated.
The schools visited included Government Special School for the Blind, Ikere Ekiti, Special School for the Mentally Retarded and Physically Challenged, Ido Ekiti and Special School for the Deaf, Ikoro Ekiti. (NAN)