By Priscilla Osaje, NAN
Ms Habiba Yakubu, Culture and Event Officer, Korea Cultural Centre in Nigeria (KCCN), has called on relevant authorities to inspire children living with disabilities in the country to actualise their dreams.
Yakubu made the call at an event organised for children with disabilities in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) to commemorate the International Day of the African children on Thursday.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Abuja School for the deaf Kuje, FCT School for the blind Children, Jabi and FCT School for Children with Special Needs Kuje participated at the event.
According to her, the event with the title:’ The African Child Can Dream’, seeks to celebrate the African child with special needs among six different schools within the FCT.
She said the event was designed to inspire the children to be creative, help them to discover themselves and come up with their future dreams.
“The centre decided to celebrate these children because they will not want to leave the children living with special needs out of the case.
“We created an event that was not just for their creativity but also to motivate them and inspire their dreams.
“We came up with the idea of them dreaming with the theme of the event which says an ‘African child can dream’.
“KCCN had researched some stories of amazing people in Korean culture and Korean society that had certain disabilities of different varieties, but found a way to navigate their lives by doing their best in making an impact in their generation,” she said.
Yakubu said that the children were amazing with the skill of drawing, with an idea on what their future would look like.
She said that it was exciting to see that some of them actually had really amazing ideas like wanting to be a medical doctor.
“It was really exciting that they can relate their future dream in pictures in their drawing, even though they did not have the right words.
“We see the future life from the perspective of these children and how they were able to communicate it in their own unique ways,” she said.
The event officer said that the children with disabilities communication and pictures could be passed across discrimination.
“Honestly we will start from the fact that we have to understand that having special needs is not a limitation but actually a superpower in itself,“she said.
She urged people to stop any form of discrimination, rather they should treat them with the highest level of value and respect as they do to any other person.
Also speaking, Mrs Isioma Okafor, Deputy Director on Cultural and Creative Art, FCT Universal Basic Education Board(UBEB), said celebrating the African child with love goes a long way in helping them fulfill their future dreams.
Okafor said that UBEB collaboration with KCCN had been remarkable, especially in the aspect of drawing competition among the 200 children from the six Area Councils in FCT.
She said the children were at the centre to feel as one body without discrimination in spite of their challenges.
“We commend KCCN for this memorable event for these children, we admonish them not to relent, rather they should continue their good work.
“We appeal to them to organise a talent hunt for us in addition to a creative drawing competition,” she said.
Mrs Dorcas Utsaha, a teacher, School for the blind children, appreciated the KCCN for organising such a wonderful and colourful event for children with special needs.
” I sincerely appreciate them for giving school for the blind children the opportunity to showcase their creativity in spite of their challenges.
“When the children started printing the masks, I thought they would not perform well, but to my great surprise they did it excellently,” she said.
Another teacher, Mr Mojhood Adebayo, Abuja School for the deaf, said the KCCN had made the children to express their ideas in their own way with love.
According to him, coming up with such programmes makes the children feel good, loved, useful and creative.
Miss Rita Ugwu, a student of school for the blind in FCT, thanked KCCN for involving their school in such a remarkable event that made them feel belonged and welcome.
“Even when we cannot see, at least we were able to design the masks given to us to the surprise of everyone,” she said.
The highlight of the event was a presentation of song by the FCT School for the blind children, Jabi with the title ‘African Children no more Discrimination. (NAN)