Special Report: Silent struggles of students with disabilities in Nigeria’s education system

By Oguadimma Chisom Jacinta

Adebolu Adejobi, a fourth-year Biomedical Engineering student at Bells University of Technology, Sango Otta, who spoke about his journey as a person living with cerebral palsy. “I wasn’t born with a disability, it all started when I was around six to eight months old. I fell ill and was rushed to the hospital. While I was there, a doctor gave me an injection that I didn’t need. That was how my journey with disability began.”

After the injection, Adebolu’s parents noticed he wasn’t developing like other children. “I couldn’t sit like I used to. I wasn’t functioning the way every other kid should,” he recalled. “There was a lot of retardation in my motion.” He was bedridden for almost four years, his parents took him from one healing center to another, desperate for a cure. It wasn’t until he turned six that his life began to resemble normalcy again, he started going to school, though he barely understood what was happening around him.

When it was time to enroll in a new school, rejection after rejection came swiftly, different schools told his parents they couldn’t accept a child with a disability until one day, a school decided to give him a trial for one term. That was how his journey in formal education started but still, Adewola had to fight through classes, exams, and expectations because cerebral palsy affects motor coordination. “My biggest challenge has always been writing,” he admitted. “I jerk uncontrollably sometimes, and it makes it hard to write legibly”.

Some teachers tried to discourage him from pursuing science. “They told me I couldn’t cope in the science department, they said I should move to arts but one counselor stood up for me”. He recalled. Another challenge he faced was writing his WAEC examinations during his first attempt, some officials mocked his speech and questioned his ability to write, some even sent him out of the exam hall but he didn’t give up.

In 2021, when he wanted to take a second WAEC, he had to officially notify the WAEC board of his condition, which under the supervision of two external regulators and a cameraman he took all his exams that way, and he graduated as the best science student in his school.
He now advocates for inclusive education, calling for policies that ensure students with disabilities are given equal opportunities. “Schools in Nigeria need to understand that disability doesn’t mean incapacity,” he said. “We need more awareness, better support systems, and teachers who believe in us.”

This is the reality for many students with disabilities in Nigeria, young people whose biggest challenge is not their condition, but a society that has refused to make room for them.

The World Health Organization reports that around 1.3 billion people in the world, about 16% of them live with some form of disability. In Nigeria, about 19 million people have disabilities, which is almost 10% of the population. Children with disabilities are hit the hardest. Shockingly, around 95 out of every 100 children with disabilities in Nigeria are not going to school. This happens because there are not enough schools that welcome them, not enough teachers trained to help them, and society often doesn’t accept them. These challenges keep them away from learning and chances to live better, fuller lives.

A culture that hides more than it helps

Some people wrongly believe that people living with disability are cursed or bring misfortune. These beliefs have created barriers that keep people with disabilities from fully participating in education, work, and even community life.

In some homes, children with disabilities are always hidden from view, not because they cannot learn, but because families fear judgment or gossip. Shame and embarrassment can prevent parents from seeking the education and support their children deserve.

The problem goes beyond our households. Many schools lack the resources, trained teachers, or inclusive practices needed to welcome students with disabilities. Even when these children are admitted, they may face ridicule from peers or neglect by educators unprepared to meet their needs. This social exclusion reinforces inequality and limits opportunities for learning, growth, and social integration.

When a medical error changes a life forever

According to Elizabeth Scarlett Eyo Eduoku, a student of the University of Uyo, lost sight in one of her eyes when she was just one year and six months old. What was supposed to be a routine medical procedure to treat an eye pain ended up changing her life forever. “As my parents recounted, I had some eye pain, and the doctor who checked my eye made a mistake that completely ruined it. The assistant doctor who made the mistake was said to have cut a nerve that connects the brain to the sight signals,thereby rendering me blind in that eye.” she recalled.

Since then, Elizabeth has had to live not only with the physical consequences of that error but also with society’s constant scrutiny. She describes the experience as a mix of curiosity, insensitivity, and pity disguised as compassion. “People stare a lot,” she said . “Some eventually summon the courage to walk up to me not to connect, but to ask insensitive questions. And when I respond, they act like I owe them an explanation.”

She has grown used to the whispers, the stares, and the unsolicited sympathy but what troubles her more is the way society reduces her identity to her disability. “It’s like people take away your entire existence, they assume your only struggle is your disability, when in reality, you are just like everyone else dealing with adulthood, work stress, and life itself.” she explained.

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Elizabeth says she has never allowed her disability to define her or dictate her confidence. But that strength has sometimes been misinterpreted. “I don’t act like there is anything wrong with me, so people usually call me proud or a snub,” she said.

She believes the problem lies in the way society perceives people living with disabilities, as individuals who must appear helpless or overly meek to be accepted. “People expect you to act like you are less than, they expect you to seek pity, but when you don’t, when you are strong, outspoken, and sure of yourself, they get confused, sometimes even offended but I grew up with parents and family who always reminded me of who I am, where I come from, and what I am capable of and that is what keeps me going. ” she said.

She also envisions an academic system where inclusion becomes part of daily life, not just a token gesture. “It would be great to see people with disabilities run for departmental presidency and actually win pageantries and once in a while, schools should organize seminars and conferences to enlighten students, build empathy, and let them into the lives and minds of their fellow students who live with disabilities.” She said.

“My biggest challenge is moving around the campus” — David Ezinne Queen’s story

For David Ezinne Queen, a 23-year-old visually impaired student of the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, shares her struggles as a student with visual impediment. “I’m visually impaired due to convulsions I had when I was younger,” she began. According to her, before losing her sight completely, she experienced partial vision loss, which helped her build early independence. “I learned how to cook, clean, and take care of myself. So survival isn’t the challenge. Mobility is the only problem, “she said.

“Moving from my hostel to class is difficult. I always need someone to walk me to school and bring me back. Even during lectures, when we need to change halls for general study courses or electives, I must rely on someone.” She noted.

Despite these challenges, Ezinne acknowledges that the University of Nigeria Nsukka remains one of the institutions in Nigeria actively practicing disability inclusion. “UNN is special-student-friendly, they have had visually impaired students for many years, so lecturers and students know how to support us ”. The school has a Special Library, a space designed to aid visually impaired learners. “It has audiobooks, braille materials, and computers with assistive software. It doesn’t solve everything, but it helps a lot.”

The Human Cost

For many students, exclusion begins with the classroom environment, those with visual impairments struggle with poorly lit classrooms and lack of braille materials. Hearing-impaired students are often isolated, unable to follow lessons because teachers lack sign language skills.

The struggle for accessible education often comes at a personal and financial cost. Many SWDs rely on family members, friends, or volunteers to navigate campuses daily.
Financial burdens also influence course choice. Some students with disabilities opt for courses perceived as “less demanding” or more compatible with assistive technologies.

The lack of adequate hostel facilities also forces students to live off-campus at extra expense. Theft, bullying, and inappropriate roommate assignments plague existing hostels. Some visually impaired students have been paired with intellectually disabled students, creating communication barriers and additional stress.

The Disability Rights Advocacy Centre (DRAC) and Inclusive Friends Association (IFA) have documented hundreds of similar cases which reveal that students with disabilities face multiple barriers, inaccessible school environments, transportation difficulties, and bullying from peers and teachers who lack awareness.

Technology as a Lifeline but not a Complete Solution

For students like Adebolu, technology has become indispensable. “I used to struggle to write a single sentence because of my jerks, but now with my laptop, I can type pages. It has changed how I learn and how I see myself.” Adebolu said.

Screen readers, text-to-speech software, braille displays, and transcription apps allow them to keep pace with their peers. During examinations, volunteers often act as guides, reading questions aloud, assisting with typing, and ensuring submissions comply with examination regulations.

Yet, technology alone cannot compensate for structural and institutional shortcomings. Devices malfunction, internet connectivity is unreliable, and human guides are often unavailable.

UNIBEN Leader Exposes Structural Discrimination

Blessing Harrison, President of the UNIBEN Association of Students with Disabilities, paints a stark picture of what education for students with disabilities looks like in University of Benin. According to her, the barriers are not just physical they are systemic, embedded in infrastructure, policies, and societal attitudes.

She shared the story of a Nigerian student with a mobility disability who applied to study Law but was instead offered Philosophy a department located in a four-storey building with no elevator or ramp. “Imagine a wheelchair user in a four-storey building with no lift,” Harrison said. “How do you expect her to attend lectures? How do you expect her to belong? This is not just inconvenience , this is exclusion built into the architecture.”

Harrison emphasised that accessibility should never be treated as charity. “Accessibility is dignity, not a favour,” “If a student cannot enter a classroom, how can you say she has been given an education?” she said.

She also pointed to a deeper problem beyond buildings which are awareness and orientation. According to her, many educators, administrators, and students are uninformed. “National awareness campaigns, proper orientation, and empathy training are essential. When people understand disability, they create supportive environments. When they don’t, they become barriers,” Harrison said.

In her view, inclusion is more than ramps or elevators it is a mindset shift. “In Nigeria, disabled students are expected to adapt to the environment, instead of the environment adapting to them. Inclusion must start with mindset, continue with policy, and be reinforced by accessible infrastructure. she concluded.

Expert perspective: Why inclusion Fails — Insights from an NGO founder

Peter Shaw, founder of Exceptionioal, an NGO dedicated to advocacy and inclusion for persons with disabilities, noted that Nigeria’s biggest challenge is not the lack of policies, but their poor implementation and societal neglect. “Policies exist but the problem is that people don’t know them, and even when they do, nobody implements them properly. We have laws promising access to quality and free education, non-segregation, and equitable opportunities but these are mostly on paper.” Shaw said.

He emphasized that the country faces serious shortages in resources, human, financial, and material. “We need trained professionals, speech therapists, special educators, counselors in schools to support these students. Many schools lack them entirely,” he explained.

Shaw also highlighted social barriers: “Even if schools have resources, teachers often don’t know how to handle students with disabilities, and societal attitudes are discouraging. Students are underestimated, discouraged from pursuing science, leadership roles, or competitive courses. The mindset is still that disability equals incapacity.”

While acknowledging the work NGOs do, Shaw insists awareness alone is not enough. “We educate people about their rights and inclusion, we reorient society, but awareness doesn’t enforce policy. Schools must be held accountable. There should be consequences for non-compliance, whether the school is private, public, wealthy, or influential.”

He stressed the importance of giving people with disabilities a platform to speak for themselves. “For decades, society only heard about disability from books or from people who weren’t living with it. We create spaces for them to share their experiences, showcase their strengths, and challenge perceptions.”

He also addressed technology, noting that while tools like screen readers and transcription apps are useful, they cannot replace human support. “Technology helps, yes, but without proper teachers, interpreters, and accessible environments, it only goes so far,” he explained.

He concluded with a strong call to action: “We need less talking, less writing policies that go nowhere. Go to the field, enforce the laws, ensure inclusion is real. Every child has the right to education, regardless of ability and that right must be respected. Nothing less is acceptable.”

Advocacy group point to government failure and dangerous gaps

Another disability rights advocate, Jolomi George Fenemigho, Executive Director of the Centre for Infrastructural and Technological Advancement for the Blind (CITAB), describes the state of inclusive education in Nigeria as “a crisis created by government neglect and sustained by low public awareness.”

Fenemigho said the government remains the biggest barrier to disability inclusion. “The government knows exactly what to do. They have seen how inclusive education works in other countries. They have travelled, they watch global news, they see the systems. But they simply choose not to implement anything,” he said.

He argued that most government-driven interventions are designed without any input from persons with disabilities themselves. “They carry out projects supposedly on our behalf, but without asking us what we need. They do it wrong, twice. And when we speak, they don’t listen,” he added.

Beyond government inaction, Fenemigho highlighted low awareness among families as another major barrier as many parents keep children with disabilities at home for years because they do not know inclusive schools exist. “Some parents don’t know there are schools that can accommodate their children. Some don’t know special schools exist. The awareness level in communities is painfully low and those who should be creating awareness are doing nothing,” he said.

Fenemigho confirmed that CITAB has received numerous reports of discrimination, neglect, and even abuse against students with disabilities. “I’ve heard cases of visually impaired students being denied assistive devices. Students who need extra time in exams are given the same duration as everyone else. Some schools refuse to provide basic materials,” he said.

Fenemigho described situations where physical accessibility is so poor that students are carried on people’s backs to reach classrooms on upper floors because many schools have no ramps, no mobility aids, no accessible classrooms. He added that students with intellectual disabilities face neglect from teachers who lack training and patience. “Most teachers don’t have the skills or patience to support students with intellectual disabilities. Their training is inadequate, and the school administrations don’t hire the right people,” he said.

Fenemigho said the absence of updated disability data is another reason inclusion continues to fail. “The last nationwide disability census was years ago more than a decade. Nobody knows the actual number of persons with disabilities in Nigeria today. The government cannot claim they know,” he said.

CITAB has written multiple letters demanding that every state establish a functional disability office. “We’ve sent letters upon letters asking states to set up disability offices that can work with local government authorities to capture real data. Nothing has been done,” he added.

How Advocacy Groups Respond to Complaints

As a relatively young organisation, CITAB responds to cases using advocacy and public pressure. “When cases come to us, we write the school directly. We outline the complaints and demand action. If there are multiple cases, we issue a press release or public statement and call for government intervention,” he explained.
In addition to advocacy, CITAB also provides training for persons with disabilities. “We train visually impaired persons to use computers and design websites. We offer digital skills because empowerment is part of inclusion,” Fenemio said.

The way forward

Nigeria’s laws recognize the right of every child with a disability to education. According to Section 17 of the Nigerian Constitution guarantees the right to free education for people with disabilities up to the secondary level and mandates that the National Commission for Persons with Disabilities provide educational tools and assistive devices. Section 18 complements this by requiring all public schools from primary to tertiary to be inclusive and accessible, with special facilities and at least one trained staff member to support students with disabilities. The law also calls for the inclusion of braille, sign language, and other essential skills in school curricula to ensure no child is left behind.

Despite these legal provisions, the reality on the ground tells a different story. Many children with disabilities are still out of school, which shows the urgent need for proper implementation of these laws and greater societal support to give every child the opportunity to learn, grow, and lead a fulfilling life.

While legislation such as the PWD Act provides a framework, enforcement is inconsistent, and institutional commitment remains patchy. Families, peers, and volunteer networks often fill the gaps, but the burden is heavy, and sustainability is uncertain.

As the world pushes toward inclusive education, Nigeria must decide whether its promises will remain on paper or be felt in classrooms, where every child, regardless of ability, deserves to be seen, heard, and taught.