By Muheeb Mashood
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| A signage carrying details about the project. Credit: Muheeb Mashood |
In Nigeria, provision of accessibility and mobility needs for persons with disabilities (PWDs) is a mandatory prerequisite before any building structure can be erected in any part of the country. This is evident by the Discrimination Against Persons with Disabilities (Prohibition) Act, 2018.
The above provision of law respects the universal demand for individual rights irrespective of sex, age, race, or status, as sanctioned by the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD).
Despite the importance of the above legal framework, only 25 out of the 36 states in Nigeria have bid into similar action. The mechanism meant to promote the welfarism of PWDs remained unrecognized in the rest of the 11 states.
Even in those jurisdictions where enactments were put in place, the reality showed that the regulations only work on paper. From public to private facilities: roads, hospitals, financial institutions, schools, etc, the existing buildings before the domestication of the inclusivity law regularly ignored the conditions of PWDs. And the new ones continue to overlook the conditions of these privileged individuals.
PWDs comprise roughly 15 percent of Nigeria's population (approximately 35 million). Yet, they formed below 1 percent of students in higher institutions, with over 85 to 95 percent of public educational spaces lacking basic physical accessibility features like ramps, braille translation tools, or elevators. This is linked to inaccessible campus designs and weak policy execution.
The result is direct. PWDs are left at the mercy of multi-purpose challenges. This exposed them to life-threatening encounters before living the same life, pursuing the same goal, and accessing similar opportunities as their counterparts.
While some of the people living with challenges endure “difficult events” to achieve their dreams, others resort to alternatives. For those who are not lucky enough, they retired to fate.
Meanwhile, from Usmanu Danfodiyo University, Sokoto (UDUS) to Sokoto State University (SSU), and Shehu Shagari University of Education, Sokoto (SSUES), a non-profit organization is breaking barriers for PWDs. The organization constructs ramps and provides special toilets dedicated to students with the special needs across the three schools.
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| Group picture after commissioning of the project at UDUS. Credit: Hawa’u Malami |
The Redeem
The intervention was brought to life by the Joint National Association of Persons with Disabilities (JONAPWD), supported by Ford Foundation. The project, titled “Strengthening Accountability Frameworks on the Post-Moratorium Cycle of the Persons with Disabilities (Prohibition) in Nigeria,” was fetched by Maimunatu Salihu Usman (PWD), someone who has lived the reality too well.
Mrs Maimunatu, happily married and blessed with children, is a staff at UDUS. She is working as the Desk Officer for students with challenges. She founded Taimako Inclusive Development Initiative (TIDI), a Sokoto-based organization promoting equal representation and better livelihood for PWDs in Northern Nigeria. Mrs Maimunatu’s TIDI facilitated the relief through JONAPWD.
The organization identified 50 needy students in UDUS. Forty heads were counted in SSU, while 30 beneficiaries were reached in the third school. This brings the total students to 120.
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| Group picture after commissioning of the project at UDUS. Credit: Hawa’u Malami |
The organization, upon the approval of UDUS management, constructed a ramp at Jubril Aminu Hostel, one of the male residences under the school authorities. Then the beneficiaries were moved there. A separate toilet fastening to the hostel was also built in a move to aid improved sanitary for the special students.
A similar establishment is also visible at one of the UDUS-owned female hostels at Jubril Aminu.
The above account is confirmed by Tasi'u Aminu, an advocate of change and Chairman of the Students' Union, Caretaker Committee (SU-CTC) at UDUS. Before the JONAPWD’s intervention, Mr Tasi'u and Mrs Maimunatu had raised the necessity of such facilities during one of their visits to the university's Vice Chancellor, Professor Bashir Garba.
“Students living with special needs will be relocated to that block, for easy access to the newly constructed facility,” said Mr Tasi'u, some days preceding the commissioning of the project in July.
“Bringing the students to that block will be much easier for them to go to class because it is very close to the hostel’s walkway,” he added.
In SSU, the project constructed a restroom lying at the heart of the university. The wisdom behind this, according to Mrs Maimunatu, is because the students with special needs stay outside the school. Therefore, the toilet is important to them whenever they are pressed around the campus.
The assistance delivered to students at SSUES followed a typical pattern like that of SSU.
To the special students, the intervention is an empowerment and a typical luxury. A study showed that PWDs in Nigerian public tertiary institutions battle severe systemic hurdles. Negative social attitudes, inaccessible physical infrastructure such as lack of ramps, elevators, and braille paths, remained key challenges.
The study further argued that education empowers individuals for social, political, and economic independence, with those who miss education standing at disadvantage and shut from self-actualization, including contribution to national development.
Meanwhile, a report revealed a concerning reality. Special education facilities are lacking in tertiary institutions in Nigeria, as educational policies and regulations in respect of special educations ignore necessary-assisted provisions for privileged students.
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| View of the facilitated ramp and the toilet in UDUS before commissioning. Credit: Hawa’u Malami |
A Much-Needed, Timely Intervention
Bello Maimuna (PWD), a first-year student of Biochemistry at UDUS, was still gripped by cloud-nine while reflecting on the relief brought by the intervention, speaking with Digest Press.
Ms Maimuna’s heart goes directly to the special toilet and bathroom provided to her hostel. In between, she recounted how she hit the ground on many occasions during her experience with the general toilet.
For Ms Maimuna, the relief is a reminder that students like her are neither rejected nor neglected. She lauded the organization’s commitment towards prioritizing the welfare of PWDs.
“I really thank the initiatives for their kindness and generosity,” said Ms Maimuna, adding, “I have tripped and fell several times in our usual bathroom.”
“They ease my difficulties because everything has not been an easy task,” she added.
Umar Muhammad (PWD), a third-year Special Education student at SSUES, shared that he often encountered challenges whenever he felt the urgency to visit restrooms due to movement restrictions.
As a student residing outside the campus, there is nowhere to turn to if he is pressed during his stay inside the school. With a standing toilet dedicated to the privileged students, his worries have been put behind because he now knows where closer to him to take care of himself.
Mrs Maimunatu revealed the motivation behind the support. The toilets are designed to save students with challenges from the danger of public restrooms that are often too messy. She said, PWDs are closer to the ground. This, according to her, exposed them to disease when using public facilities.
As a former student of UDUS, Mrs Maimunatu’s undergraduate encounters with accessibility are marked by challenges. She had to suspend her program when everything became too difficult during her first pregnancy. But that came at a cost. Mrs Maimunatu would later complete her studies only after adding some extra years upon delivery.
That alone justified why she takes the course upon herself. Her TIDI has been using advocacy to create awareness and sensitization in fighting for the needs of PWDs since 2025.
“I’m part of the solution. I faced a lot of challenges during my time as a student. I’m married, I’m pregnant, and I couldn’t make it," recalled Mrs Maimunatu.
Through her experience, she preaches gender inclusivity to the universities. The change was welcomed, and implemented.
Independence
For Raliya Hadiru Sulaiman (PWD), another student at SSUES, the imperative runs deeper. The intervention means independence to her.
Before the facilities were provided to her school, she depended on friends. Some other times, she solicited support from people. They guide her whenever she wants to use the toilets and help her to move safely. With the new passage and toilet, Ms Raliya is now doing many things on her own.
The second-year student has now put together confidence, independence, and dignity because she no longer relies on the support of other people before having her way.
“The old passage was not easy to use, and accessing the toilet was stressful. As a visually impaired student, I sometimes seek help from other people,” she stated.
Mr Tasi'u believes that the toilets and the ramps illuminate independence due to the unique features they bring to the special students.
“Because of the accessible ramps, they can uplift themselves and move freely around without relying on the support of anybody,” said Mrs Maimunatu.
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| UDUS officials and the project supervisors during commissioning. Credit: Hawa’u Malami |
Challenges Remain Visible
While the initiative is welcomed and hailed as timely, Mrs Maimunatu reminisced on the gaps that are left to be covered. Although the plan has been with her for a while, access to financial support delayed the intervention till 2026.
That is not all. Mrs Maimunatu is looking forward to extending the gesture to more schools, reaching more beneficiaries, and growing her TIDI into a bigger organization that drives more meaningful impacts.
Mrs Maimunatu is unsettled with how societies negligently manage the affairs of people with special needs. She claimed that people know the law but ignore it.
She further encouraged communities to shift positively into how they engage PWDs around them.
“I once met someone inside the male toilets at UDUS and chased him out. I made him realize it is only meant for people with challenges,” she stressed, expressing displeasure over a threat that faced the intervention at its early stage.
Being the mothers of other schools across the state, Mrs Maimunatu cited population as the reason for choosing UDUS, SSU, and SSUES.
As support becomes out of reach, non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in Nigeria are tackling the exclusion of PWDs in tertiary institutions through infrastructure audits, assistive tech deployment, and legal advocacy. JONAPWD and Mrs Maimunatu's TIDI are few among them.
Mrs Maimunatu expressed her strong commitment towards her mandate. She is confident that her organization
will facilitate more plans, emphasizing the importance of bridging the gap that remained widely open.