By Bashir Hassan Abubakar
As the Bauchi State 2024 Budget Public Hearing comes to an end in the Bauchi South Geopolitical Zone, People With Disability (PWD) in the State have called on the State Government to create a dedicated scholarship program that would cater for their educational needs.
The PWD also tasked the Government and other corporate bodies to pay attention and take cognizance of their special needs when constructing structures by making provision for ramps and other amenities in such places.
They made the call at the just concluded Bauchi 2024 budget public hearing organized by the Bauchi State ministry of budget and economic planning held at the conference hall of Zaranda Hotel Bauchi.
Abdullahi Ismail, a hearing impaired university graduate, said that most PWD have the capacity to compete favorably with others in academical training.
Ismail, who is also the president of the National Association of Bauchi State Citizens with Disabilities said that, with a dedicated scholarship meant for PWD, a window of opportunity would have been established to enable them to reach their full potentials in life and also contribute their quota for national development.
He reminded stakeholders during the budget public hearing that other States across Nigeria have gone far in establishing special scholarship programs for their PWD.
He expressed his optimism that, with such scholarship assistance, there will be an increase in the number of trained professionals in Bauchi State.
Ismail also thanked the state government for giving them the opportunity to attend the 2024 budget public hearing.
In her submission, Asma’u Yahaya said that, her concern is centered around the insensitivity in the construction of some public structures that does not make provisions to cater for the special needs PWD.
Yahaya, who is the Executive Director of an NGO known as “Women with Disability Integrity Development Initiative”, lamented the difficulty they encounter in accessing public facilities due to absence of PWD’s friendly amenities in public structures.
She then appealed to Bauchi Government to prioritize their special needs in the proposed budget with a view to giving them the chance to participate actively in Government activities and programs.
While giving a goodwill message, the Co-chairperson (CSO’s side) of the newly established Open Government Partnership (OGP) initiative, Hajiya Maryam Garba commended PWD for their active participation all through the budget public hearing.
Hajiya Maryam Garba, who is also the Executive Director of FAHIMTA Women and Youth Development Initiative, an NGO, said that, with the launching of the OGP by the Bauchi State Government, another window of opportunity has now been created for engaging citizens in Governance which is inline with global best practices.
She encouraged citizens of the state to availed themselves the OGP platform by being involved in it’s activities and programs with a view to having a say in the administration of Bauchi State.
The ED also commended Governor Bala Abdulkadir Mohammed for creating enabling environment for citizens participation in the budget processes and other stakeholder holder engagement programs before taking important decisions concerning Bauchi State.
In his closing remarks after Budget Public Hearing, permanent secretary of the State ministry of budget and economic planning, Mallam Idris Sale Giade thanked members of the public for sparing their time to attend the function.
Sale Giade also told the participants that all their concerns were duly noted and would be studied , with a view to addressing some of their concerns in the preparation of the 2024 Budget.
The permanent secretary said that, though limited time could not allow each and every participant to give an input, he encouraged them to leverage on the newly introduced Community Needs and Charter of Demands (CCD) template to bring out at least 3 key areas of needs at community level, to be forwarded to ministry.
Giade then thanked the USAID Funded State2State Activity for supporting the the budget public hearing event and also developing the CCD template for citizen’s inputs into the budget process.
The Bauchi Southern Zone budget public hearing attracted participants from NGOs, CSOs, FBOs, Religious/ Community leaders, traditional institutions and local government administration.
Our correspondent reports that similar hearings had taken place in the Northern and Central Geopolitical Zones of the State.