Prada Uzodimma and Oprah Uzodimma sat together one day, ruminating about their lives while schooling in London, where they lived for over 7 years. They thought about the memories, the moments they shared with loved ones and the places they visited. As they sat there, one thing came to them. They realised that even in the cranckiest of places, there was disability access–in buildings, toilets, hospitals with visual aids, underground train stations and brialles and signs in public spaces.
“Never have we actually ever seen that type of inclusion here in Nigeria,” Prada says. The two sisters started thinking about how, in most public spaces in Nigeria, no adequate structures were catering for people living with disabilities.
Before 2019, when former President Muhammadu Buhari signed the Discrimination Against Persons with Disabilities (Prohibition) Act into law, there had been no systemic ruling or act about PwDs. According to data from Disability Data Initiative, “In Nigeria, the share of adults aged 15 and older with any functional difficulty stands at 6.9%.” In 2023, the National Commission for Persons With Disabilities (NCPWD) said there were 35.1 million persons living with disabilities in Nigeria. Despite the act signed by President Muhammadu Buhari and the existence of NCPWD, people living with disabilities still face discrimination and lack of swift access to public spaces like banks, airports, schools and other places, according to reports.
Since childhood, Prada and Oprah have been passionate about helping and giving back to their community. At the church gates, they’d give their after-church ice cream money to those less well-off. In 2020, the two sisters came together to decide how to introduce Nigeria to the conversation of access for people with disabilities based on their experiences in the United Kingdom. This was when the idea of The Ability Life Initiative (TALI) Foundation was birthed.
The Ability Life Initiative
“In Nigeria, when people hear the word ‘disability,’ they mostly think of someone in a wheelchair. The concept of invisible disabilities is almost completely ignored, like dyslexia and dysgraphia. So, we went to schools to educate both students and teachers. We wanted to teach the students about learning disabilities and train teachers on the appropriate coping mechanisms and teaching strategies,” Prada says.
The sisters based the initiative’s focus on giving access, which led to the creation of our five focus areas: access to inclusive housing for people with disabilities, access to inclusive healthcare, access to proper knowledge so that people don’t discriminate against persons with disabilities, and access to mental health care.
“We actually separated mental health from general health because we wanted to place special emphasis on it. Mental health is an area that’s often ignored here in Nigeria, and we felt it deserved focused attention,” Prada says.
They knew some organisations were also passionate about disability in Nigeria, but they lacked the expertise or often encountered challenges which hindered the progress of their work. “When we visit some of our disability or community clusters, we hear complaints like, ‘This foundation gave us a wheelchair, but it was damaged in two days because there are no good roads.’”
Early Challenges
Apart from funding (including funding), one of the early challenges that TALI faced was Nigeria’s lack of a data portal. It became difficult for the foundation to determine what percentage of students with disabilities are enrolled in inclusive schools, what kinds of disabilities were they accommodating, what subjects were being taught, how are lessons being adapted to support inclusive learning, and what coping mechanisms are being implemented for these students. “This puts a strain on our budget because we now have to conduct comprehensive needs assessments ourselves before rolling out any intervention or program.”
Success Stories
TALI’s commitment to promoting inclusivity is evident through its various initiatives aimed at empowering individuals with disabilities. A key area of focus is education, where TALI places a strong emphasis on inclusive learning. In June 2024, the organisation conducted a training program at Government Secondary School Kuje, where it donated adaptive communication tools such as electronic tablets equipped with Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) software, educational posters, wheelchairs and more. Both students and staff received hands-on training to better integrate these tools into the learning process, enhancing accessibility for students with disabilities.
The AAC is like an app that has key functions that say things like “I have, I want, I do” and other different verbs and pronouns. This allows the students who can’t to click on these key functions to say words like, ” I want rice and beans. I have rgers, fries.” By clicking, the students are making statements.
In October 2022, TALI hosted workshops at Government Day Secondary School Wuse II and Government Secondary School Jabi to raise awareness about learning disabilities and promote inclusive education.
TALI also addresses the healthcare needs of persons with disabilities through specialised programs. In October 2023, the organisation organised a skincare outreach for persons with albinism, providing them with essential tools like protective sleeves and sunscreens to better manage their skin health. Advocacy remains a central pillar of TALI’s work, with notable efforts such as a talent show for visually impaired students at the School for the Blind in Jabi, Abuja, and a para-soccer event in 2021 that promoted inclusivity in sports for persons with physical disabilities. Through these impactful initiatives, TALI continues to foster community engagement and drive awareness for the rights and inclusion of individuals with disabilities.
Future Plans
Beyond Abuja, the initiative is looking to expand across Nigeria and Africa. However, for this year, “our strategic plan revolves around policy advocacy. During the unveiling of the foundation, we were fortunate to gain significant support from key policymakers, including ministers and first ladies who attended the event. Now, we’re focusing on how we can make policies more inclusive for people with disabilities. We’re looking at the Disability Rights Act—how can we amend it to make it more effective? We’re also considering how to integrate people with disabilities into social framework investment policies. These are the issues we’ll address as we develop our strategic plan for the year. The policies we focus on will directly influence the programs we carry out,” Oprah says.
© Bella Naija