‘15m physically challenged Nigerians lack access to education’

The Centre for Citizens with Disability has said over 80 per cent of Nigerians with disabilities lack access to formal education.

The Executive Director, CCD, Mr. David Anyaele, told SUNDAY PUNCH that the difficulty persons with disability face in getting formal education was due to minimal access to public infrastructure.

He said, “In my estimation, more than 19 million Nigerians are living with one form of disability or the other. Less than 0.1 per cent of the schools in Nigeria have facilities for persons living with disabilities.

“Because access is beyond ramp and lifter to enter classes, it includes accessible toilets, library for the blind and sign language interpreter for the deaf students to mention but a few. These have made it extremely expensive to train a child with disability with formal education.”


Anyaele added that CCD and similar organisations have made submissions to the National Assembly to establish their rights in the ongoing constitution review.

“The disability community is pushing harder this time around. I personally made a presentation to the Senate Committee on Constitutional Review in Abuja last September in which I called on the Senate to amend Sections 15 & 42 of the 1999 Constitution to prohibit discrimination on the ground of disability,” he said.

Meanwhile, during the Disability Awareness Week, organised by CCD in Lagos, between Tuesday and Thursday last week, persons with disability protested the indirect discrimination they face due to their inability to fully access public facilities especially banking halls.

A study conducted by CCD showed that most bank buildings in the country lack facilities that would aid persons with disabilities.

The study noted that out of over 100 bank buildings visited, none had ramps for persons using wheelchairs, elevators to top floors, audio devices for the blind, as well as other facilities that can help persons with disabilities.

One of the participants, the Osun State chairman of the Joint National Association of Persons Living with Disability, Kehinde Onitiju, said he had suffered discrimination at the entrance of banks because his crutches could not pass through the security door.