Fashola Visits, Offers Scholarship To Students Of Vocational Centre For The Blind As He Turns 49

un 28, 2012 - As has been his tradition since the last five years, Lagos State Governor, Mr. Babatunde Fashola (SAN), Thursday celebrated his 49th birthday with students of the Nigeria Society for the Blind's Vocational Training Centre in Oshodi offering annual scholarships to the students and support for the development projects of the school. In his remarks at the occasion, Governor Fashola said the State Government would give yearly scholarships to the full capacity of inmates in the school as a way of showing appreciation to the founders, the Board of Trustees and management of the institution for the selfless service they render to the society. Governor Fashola said in the last five years, his administration has not only put in place a legislation to protect the physically challenge in the society, it has taken concrete steps to show a consciousness of the needs of the group. Among others, he said, Government had made it mandatory to include ramps and walkways while building hospitals, schools, courts and roads especially for the use of the physically challenged as a matter of law enacted by Government which sets guidelines about what it should do to give the physically challenged the opportunity to live a useful and fruitful life. The Governor, however, expressed dismay that some of the walkways have been turned to trading posts. He hinted that Government would continue to enforce the law to check those who fail to comply with the directive to keep the walkways strictly free for the purpose for which they are built. "It is not the money. It is the consciousness that they have abilities and we support them in living useful and fruitful lives", the Governor said adding, "Therefore, when we build roads, we must have walkways and this is what you see in many of the roads that the Lagos State Government is building today; pedestrian walkways to separate them from motorists". Appealing to the private sector to also contribute in making life more meaningful for the physically challenged, Governor Fashola declared, "Almost all the public structures we have built in the last five years – courts, hospitals and schools - have ramps where we cannot provide lift".