Individuals, Private and Civil Society organizations that have been advancing disability inclusion in Nigeria have received awards at the third edition of the Disability Inclusion and Leadership (DIAL) Awards organized by Project Enable Africa.
The DIAL Awards also featured the presentation of business grants to Persons with Disabilities who are entrepreneurs, to help them improve and expand their businesses.
Giving a welcome remark at the event, Olusola Owonikoko, Executive Director of Project Enable Africa shared that the DIAL Awards is an opportunity to promote disability inclusion by recognizing the works that are being done by individuals and groups.
He said, “while we might not be where we want to be, we should celebrate the progress that we have made.”
Owonikoko also noted that it is an opportunity to collaborate more, because the “greatest currency in this age is collaboration and COVID-19 has set us back in some of the progressed we’ve made over the years. Now is the time for us to collaborate and drive much impact.”
He also appreciated the support of Access Bank for the DIAL Awards and business grants to PWDs.
Omobolanle Victor Laniyan of Access Bank while giving her remark buttressed that the DIAL Awards is a platform to stimulate and celebrate individuals and organizations working on disability inclusion in the society.
She noted that the award will continue to inspire positive actions towards advancing disability inclusion.
She also called for further collaborations among stakeholders, to bridge existing gaps.
In his keynote address, Mr. Gbenga Olugbodi commended Project Enable for the consistency and efforts towards advancing disability rights in Nigeria and beyond.
He enjoined PWDs in attendance to stay positive and to avoid any negative situation weigh them down and urged them to always confess positivity at all times.
Recipients of the awards were; Flora Ugwunwa, Sports; Anthony Kupe, Individual; Louis Auta, Advocate of the year; Anambra, most inclusive state; Unilever, most inclusive organization; and Orange Ribbon by GTBank, in the CSR category.
Beneficiaries of the business grants were; Adesola Oyebode, 500 dollar cash price to produce clothes with magnets, Velcro, easy to grab zippers and buttons for persons with physical disabilities; Husienni Oluwaremilekun 300 dollars for the expansion of her poultry business in Ikorodu; and Gladys Ibrahim, 200 dollars to expand her honey business.
The highpoint of the event was a dance presentation by the Deaf can dance group.