Sickle Cell Disorder Victims Exonerate Soludo From Insensitivity Allegations

The Association of People Living with Sickle Cell Disorders, Anambra State, has said that Gov Chukwuma Soludo should not be blamed for the ordeals they are passing through.

According to them, the Chairman of Anambra State Disabilities Rights Commission (ANSDRC), Barrister Chukwuka Ezewuzie, is taking undue advantage of them.

Recall that Mrs. Uche Ajuluchukwu, former Nigerian High Commissioner to South Africa, accused the Soludo administration of abandoning people with disabilities since its inception.

Aisha Edwards Maduagwu, Director, Sickle Cell Orphanage and Underprivileged Home, Agulu, in a release, said the statement by Mrs Ajuluchukwu ‘was done in bad taste and was not the true representation of facts as no diligent investigation was carried out by her’.

Maduagwu said, “Association of People Living with Sickle Cell Disorders (APLSCD) whose members also have various forms of physical disabilities have been grossly cheated and sidelined by the chairman of ANSDRC, Barrister Chukwuka Ezewuzie, from his days as Special Adviser on disability to ex-governor Willie Obiano. Governor Soludo does not tolerate sycophancy, a tool which he (Ezewuzie) employed fully to mesmerize Obiano into parting with huge funds that ended in his private pockets.”

She recalled that the association wrote to Ezewuzie in 2020 during the height of COVID-19 for some relief materials meant for people with disabilities of which sickle cell persons were legitimately entitled but to no avail.

She continued, “We summed up courage and visited him at his office where he sweet-talked us into writing a proposal which he later adopted for his pecuniary gains. We are no longer carried away by the silver tongue of Ezewuzie, as it is only meant for sycophancy and praise-singing to gain undue advantages.”

She further recalled that “During COVID-19, Senator Ifeanyi Ubah brought in many container loads of medical equipment for people with disabilities in Anambra State and handed same over to Ezewuzie. What happened to the medical equipment is a story for another day.

“What moral grounds does Ezewuzie have to encourage the former Diplomat, Mrs Ajuluchukwu, to condemn Governor Soludo’s publicly? Ezewuzie has been mal-treating his immediate constituents, denying PWDs of their rights while feigning ignorance.’

She said both the Anambra State Disability Law and Sickle Cell Law were passed at the same period during the Willie Obiano administration, adding that ‘the disability community already has a commission while the sickle cell community has nothing’.

In her words, “Ezewuzie should not be allowed to determine or have sole control over the endowments of people with disabilities, or we would continue to hear such misleading stories from his cronies.

“The disability community has coordinators in each local government area, and the authorities should deal directly with these coordinators so that every intervention plan would reach the grassroots.”