Women centre will get first wheelchair ramp after 34 years – News Agency of Nigeria
Ramp
By Philomina Attah
Abuja, Oct. 16, 2026 (NAN) The Maryam Babangida National Centre for Women Development says it can mark its thirty fourth anniversary on Oct. 17 with a give attention to innovation, inclusion and ladies empowerment.
The Director-General of the centre, Dr Adedayo Benjamins-Laniyi, disclosed this on Friday when asserting actions to mark its 34 years anniversary in Abuja.
Benjamins-Laniyi mentioned the centre, established 34 years in the past by late First Lady Maryam Babangida, had operated with out entry for ladies on wheelchairs till now.
She mentioned the centre had constructed its first wheelchair accessibility ramp, constructed by Julius Berger without charge to authorities as Corporate Social Responsibility.
The D-G mentioned the intervention adopted an accessibility audit carried out in collaboration with the National Commission for Persons with Disabilities.
Benjamins-Laniyi mentioned on assumption of workplace on June 1, she refused to occupy the D-G’s workplace upstairs till girls with disabilities might entry it.
She mentioned the choice was knowledgeable by an expertise in August when a board member with incapacity, Ms Lois Auta, needed to be lifted by 5 males to attend a gathering upstairs.
The D-G mentioned Auta, for the primary time on Wednesday, wheeled into the constructing with dignity with out help.
She mentioned the centre would additionally redesign its auditorium ramp which had triggered accidents on account of improper building.
Benjamins-Laniyi mentioned the centre was additionally mainstreaming incapacity inclusion past bodily infrastructure.
She mentioned a visually impaired workers who joined the centre 29 years in the past on the most junior degree within the ICT division would now head a directorate.
She mentioned the centre was upgrading its enabling expertise and rolling out new empowerment packages, analysis, Artificial Intelligence and ICT programmes by its six zonal places of work.
She listed its companions to incorporate the High Commission of India and the UN Population Fund (UNFPA).
The D-G mentioned the centre was collaborating with the National Gallery of Art to unveil the “First 66”, a public portal the place Nigerians would select 65 dwelling girls icons.
She mentioned First Lady, Sen. Oluremi Tinubu, who not too long ago marked her 66th birthday, can be listed as primary on the portal.
Benjamins-Laniyi urged girls to embrace solidarity, coining a cost, “She for She”, to counter the narrative that girls don’t help girls.
She suggested girls who had contested elections to stay centered, noting that contesting for place was a step in direction of positioning different girls.
She mentioned the centre was being repositioned because the entrance workplace of the Federal Ministry of Women Affairs in step with the Women O’Clock declaration of the Minister, Hajia Imaan Sulaiman-Ibrahim. (NAN)
APA/EAL
=========
Edited by Ekemini Ladejobi

