The wife of Abia State Governor, Priscilla Otti, has supported 400 women living with disabilities with N20m and food items.
Otti presented the assistance on Friday during an outreach organised for women with disabilities in Umuahia, the state capital.
The governor’s wife, who is the founder of the Safe Tent Care Initiative, said the intervention was designed to provide practical support to people facing economic hardship.
“This has been a long time coming, and this is just the start. I want to promise you that this will be a very frequent intervention from my office,” she said.
She said the support was also intended to ensure that women with disabilities received the same attention given to other women during the recent August Meeting.
“The true measure of a society is not how high its strongest can rise, but how faithfully it reaches for those who face the greatest barriers and how firmly it stands beside them until they too can rise.
“My dear brothers and sisters living with disabilities, you matter, you are seen, and you belong to our state. In times of hardship, compassion must not be distant. It must be present, it must be practical, and it must reach the people who need it most,” Otti said.
She identified unemployment, financial insecurity, medical expenses, limited mobility, poor accessibility, stigma and social exclusion among the challenges faced by persons living with disabilities.
Otti said her office had maintained engagement with the disability community since 2023, adding that more than 600 persons with disabilities benefited from a food and cash outreach in 2024.
She said about 100 entrepreneurs living with disabilities also received business support through a partnership with her office in 2025.
“This is not charity and not an end in itself; it is solidarity in action. We do not just believe in handouts. We believe in teaching our people to fish and not handing them fish,” she said.
The governor’s wife disclosed that her office had signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the National Directorate of Employment to train 200 women in vocational skills for three months and provide them with starter packs.
She said a portion of the beneficiaries would be reserved for women living with disabilities.
“These interventions may take different forms, but they are united by one purpose, to move from relief to resilience, from dependence to opportunity, and from vulnerability to greater economic independence,” she said.
Otti also said the National Community Food Bank for the South-East, launched by the First Lady, Oluremi Tinubu, in Anambra State on Sunday, would support vulnerable groups including widows, elderly people, persons with disabilities, nursing mothers and children.
She said Abia would soon launch its own community food bank and include persons with disabilities among the beneficiaries.
The Commissioner for Poverty Alleviation and Social Protection, Blessing Ngozi Felix, said the state government had given persons with disabilities a greater sense of belonging.
Felix, who was represented by Imo Obinna Sabbatin, said, “This government has made you realize that your voices matter. You are not nobody anymore. You are people, you are part of this state, you are part of this government. Your voices have been heard and will continue to be heard as long as this government is concerned.”
The Commissioner for Women Affairs, Maureen Aghukwa, said disability should not be a reason for exclusion or discrimination.
“Persons with disabilities are valued members of our society. You are people with talent, dreams, abilities, and enormous contributions to make to the development of our state. Disability should never be a reason for exclusion, discrimination, or neglect,” the said.
The Senior Special Assistant to the Governor on Persons Living With Disabilities, David Anyaele, said the administration was focused on empowerment rather than palliatives.
He said the event was part of the 2026 Women with Disabilities August Meeting and was specially organised after the governor’s wife completed engagements with women across the state’s local government areas.
