Senator who formerly represented Kaduna Central Senatorial District in the 8th National Assembly, Shehu Sani on Tuesday in Abuja recalled how he shed tears when he saw underage Nigerian children being blind, wondering how these children were denied from seeing how human beings and the society look like.
In a show of empathy, he donated electronics items valued at N10million to management, staff and students of the FCT School of the blind, the school owned by the Federal Capital Territory.
CAPITAL POST reportsthat the items presented in the first phase of the presentation includes television sets, deep freezers, among other visual aids equipment, promising that more would be donated as the school management got back to him on those things they further need.
Presenting the items, Sani said, he had visited the FCT school for the blind two weeks ago, nothing that the school had been in existence since three decades.
He said his experience and interaction with management and students was pathetic, saying that young children who are between ages of four, five and six years can not see.
He said it was understandable when elderly people can not see, but most pathetic, when children become blind.
“It means they will live the whole of their lives without knowing the world they live, 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 a tragedy of life.”
Sani said, having discussed with the students, what he could do for them as an individual was to use his little economic power to make life a bit comfortable for them.
He said the students had requested for three items, noting that he would provide the items in three phases.
He said the first phase of the items being presented today includes television sets, deep freezers, television decoders among other electrical appliances and equipment.
He said he was amazed and wondering how young children that were blind could watch television.
Sani, however, said after a discussion with management, teachers and students, he was meant to understand that the students would like to listen to sound and speeches on the television even when they are virtually challenged.
He said the next phase of the presentation would be the provisions of customized laptops IPads for the school.
He assured the management that after the customization the laptops, they would be presented to the school before resumption of the students from the holiday.
Sani said the up keep of any physically challenge child should 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 on coming.
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 beyond.
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 everyone in the society to support the institution of the blind.”
Mrs Pauline Okafor, a virtually challenged and a Teacher in the school said she had been blind since she was five years.
According to her, the children in the school needs 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 that God blesses him and provide for him always, given his humanitarian disposition.
