A disability rights advocate, Mr. Olusola Adeyefa, has decried the low rate of employment among persons living with disabilities (PWDs) in Nigeria, stating that less than one percent of the estimated 35 million PWDs are employed as professionals.
Adeyefa, who is the Co-Founder of Ability Impact Centre, made this known while speaking on a Channels Television programme, Sunrise on Saturday.
He attributed the low professional engagement of PWDs to poor access to quality education, which he described as being expensive and fraught with structural and attitudinal barriers.
“Realistically, if you look at that percentage in terms of data, we have less than one percent of even that 35 million that are really professional, and the reason is not far-fetched,” Adeyefa said.
“Access to education is tough. Good education is expensive. I attended Obafemi Awolowo University. I had architectural and attitudinal barriers,” he added.
Adeyefa, who sustained a spinal cord injury in a road accident on the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway at the age of 18, also pointed to nepotism and limited opportunities as major barriers to employment for PWDs.
He noted that despite efforts by some PWDs who manage to attain higher education, the road to employment remains difficult, stressing that the few privileged ones have a duty to advocate for others.
“What we do when we now become supposed privileged persons with disabilities is to now fight the cause of other people to ensure that we show them how to and also pave the way for them to come in,” he said.
Citing the 2024 State of Disability Inclusion Report, Adeyefa stated that while some states have adopted disability rights laws and established implementing agencies, many of these agencies remain underfunded and ineffective.
He called for stronger institutional support, improved funding, and greater enforcement of disability laws to enhance inclusion and economic empowerment of PWDs across the country.
