Nigerian albinos called on President Goodluck Jonathan to include their representative in the National Conference so that to draw government’s attention to the peculiar condition of people living with the disorder.
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Jake Epelle |
The president of the Albino Foundation of Nigeria (AFN), Jake Epelle, made the appeal in a Thursday interview with PremiumTimes.
The National Conference kicks off today in Abuja at 4pm.
According to Epelle, there are six million albinos in Nigeria and they “need a voice”.
“We need to mainstream some our issues and challenges into the national policy and discuss. We see this National Conference as a platform to push our cases,” he said.
Epelle said that one of the biggest problem for albinos is that they “have no sense of belonging in any country”.
But he added that this is a problem of the albinos in the world.
AFN president pointed out that people with albinism need a platform to explain what challenges they face to enable politicians to design programmes and policies that could favour those living with the disorder.
“We have been making frantic effort to get the government to include us as delegates to the National Conference,” Epelle added.
Albinism is an inherited genetic condition that results in the absence of pigmentation in the eyes, the skin and the hair.
Due to the unique make-up of people living with the condition, they are susceptible to specific skin and eye problems that could affect their economic and social status.
Therefore, albinos require higher level of care and attention that are seldom provided in conventional health care facilities.
