By Ere-ebi Agedah Imisi
The National Commission for Persons with Disabilities (NCPWD) has called for urgent and coordinated action to guarantee accessible education, empowerment, and protection of the rights of children with disabilities across Nigeria.
The appeal was made in commemoration of the 2026 Children’s Day celebration, with the Commission urging governments, institutions, communities, and families to ensure that no child is excluded because of disability.
Executive Secretary of the Commission, Ayuba Gufwan, made the call in his Children’s Day message themed, “For Every Child, Every Right: Leaving No Child Behind.”
Gufwan said the theme reflects the harsh realities faced by millions of Nigerian children living with disabilities, stressing that they must no longer remain invisible in national development discussions.
According to him, more than seven million children with disabilities spread across Nigeria’s 8,804 wards still face exclusion from education, healthcare, recreation, and social participation due to poverty, stigma, inaccessible infrastructure, and weak implementation of inclusive policies.
He lamented that many children who are blind, deaf, autistic, or living with cerebral palsy, albinism, intellectual disabilities, and mobility challenges continue to be denied access to quality education and opportunities available to other children.
“Too many of them wake up to locked school gates. Too many sit at home while their peers recite the National Anthem in classrooms. Too many are hidden because of stigma, poverty, and buildings that were never built with them in mind. That must end,” he stated.
The NCPWD boss noted that under the administration of Bola Ahmed Tinubu and the Renewed Hope Agenda, Nigeria has another opportunity to build a society where disability does not determine a child’s future.
Gufwan stressed that investment in inclusive education, assistive devices, early intervention services, and disability-friendly learning environments should be viewed as national development priorities rather than charity.
Highlighting achievements recorded by the Commission within the past year, he disclosed that the NCPWD distributed over 50,000 assistive devices, including wheelchairs, hearing aids, white canes, and educational kits to children in 24 states.
He further revealed that the Commission collaborated with State Universal Basic Education Boards to train more than 1,200 teachers in inclusive education and sign language, while also launching the “No Child Left Behind” Ward Initiative to provide disability screening and support services at the grassroots level.
Gufwan urged governments at all levels to ensure that newly constructed schools are accessible and that public budgets include specific allocations for special needs and inclusive education programmes.
Addressing parents and communities, he called for an end to stigma against children with disabilities.
“Your child is not a curse. Your child is a gift. Do not hide them. Enrol them. Let them play. The Commission stands with you,” he said.
He also encouraged children living with disabilities not to give up on their dreams, assuring them that their abilities and talents remain valuable to Nigeria’s future.
