Lagos CJ pledges support for visually-impaired students

The Chief Judge of Lagos State, Justice Opeyemi Oke, on Wednesday assured the students of the Bethesda Home for the Blind in the Idi-Oro area of Mushin and orphans at the Optimal Children Home in the Isheri-Magodo area of the state of support of the judiciary.

Justice Oke, who made this pledge during visits to the homes with judges and heads of department of the judiciary, noted that the visits were one of the activities lined up for her retirement.

She further assured the homes that the incoming CJ would continue to support and visit the homes.

The CJ said, “The Lagos State judiciary will never forget you. Anywhere I go after my tenure, I will continue to remind my successors on the need to continue to assist you because I want you to be happy every time.

“We need to sow seeds into many lives, particularly the underprivileged. We shouldn’t leave everything to the government alone. I am fulfilled that despite their challenges, they still have the heart to thank God for His mercies.”

While expressing joy at the academic excellence of the blind students, the chief judge assured those who had yet to pay their acceptance fees into different universities that they would be supported by the judiciary.

Earlier in her welcome address, Miss Philomena Cyprian, a 300-level student of Guidance and Counseling at the University of Ibadan, disclosed that 86 pupils from the Bethesda Home were in various universities across the country.

The founder of Optimal Children Home, Lola Ayo-Adedeji, said the centre had 26 children in its care, out of which 22 were in schools.

She added that two orphans from the home had been sent abroad.

Ayo-Adedeji noted that the children were abandoned by their parents and picked from refuse dumps, adding that the visit by the CJ and the donation of different electrical appliances had encouraged her to do more.