By Abayomi Adeshida
ABUJA — The Presi-dent, Federation of People with Disabilities, Mr. Chuka Okogwu, has expressed the commitment of members of his group to actively participate in the build-up to and  actual voting processes during the 2011 general elections.

Speaking while delivering a vote of thanks after his group received a gift of a bus from the First Lady, Dame Patience Jonathan, Okogwu said  the rare gift came to the group, “as a demonstration of the fact that those of us who are challenged physically have not been totally forgotten by the society.

“Each time we have to go to public offices or take public transportation, we regret the manner they were designed without considerations for our members.

“Many of us have overcome these challenges because we have designed our own way of contributing to the larger society and we are happy today that we can say we have not been completely forgotten.

“Recently, we met with the Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission, Prof. Attahiru Jega, and he promised that there will considerations for our members during the 2011 elections.

“We, therefore, want to seize the opportunity of this gesture to promise that our 19 million members who are living with disabilities, though not all are eligible to vote, will be committed to taking active participation in the build up to and the actual casting of our votes during the 2011 elections,” Okogwu vowed.

Earlier in her speech, Dame Goodluck Jonathan revealed that she was making the donation of buses to “the women and charitable organizations to assist them in mobility for their official activities and to serve some economic purposes through income generation.”

Among the seventeen beneficiaries of the buses include the National Council for Women Societies; National Association of Women Journalists, NAWOJ; National Market Women Association (FCT chapter); National Market Men Association of Nigeria; Federation of Widows International; Federation of Muslim Women Associations; Women Wing of the Christian Association of Nigeria; International Federation of Female Lawyers; Association of Senators’ Wives; Federation of People Living with AIDS; National Union of Road Transport Workers, as well as others.