No fewer than 1,500 Persons With Disabilities (PWDs) were on Monday empowered by Sir David Osunde Foundation.
The foundation said at its 31st annual Special Easter Monday Celebration in Abuja that the beneficiaries were drawn from across the country.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that items distributed included wheel chairs, crutches, white canes, clothes, foodstuffs and educational grants, among others.
In his speech, the Archbishop of Abuja Archdiocese, His Grace, Ignatius Kaigama, noted that the foundation has been consistent in it’s support of PWDs irrespective of tribe or religion.
He admonished Nigerians that instead of fighting over religion, tribe or politics, they should channel their energies into building a society where PWDs will feel at home and loved.
Kaigama, who celebrated mass at the event, said instead of thanking God, a lot of able bodied people engaged in crimes like kidnapping and killings of even Internally Displaced Persons.
“This is a duty that needs to be done; we sometimes waste so much time on things that do not matter; this foundation is calling our attention today.
“We are so concerned about very big projects that are of national and international value, but when it comes to the people who matter, people who just need basic things to survive, we are lacking.
“We are invited to a work of love and charity; helping the sick, works of mercy; I am calling on everyone to get engaged,” he said.
Kaigama said there are over 1.3 billion PWDs in the world, as such a lot of work needed to be done to support them to be self reliant.
Minister of Women Affairs, Dame Pauline Tallen, commended the foundation for helping the less privileged for more than 30 years.
“We must do all we can to share what God has given us with the disadvantaged, and to touch lives,” Tallen said.
Dr Anthony Osunde said apart from the items donated, some of the PWDs were trained on liquid soap production and business logo design, among others.
Osunde called for the setting up of a ministry to cater for people with disabilities in all the states and FCT. (NAN)
