Disabilities no longer hidden in Nigeria - 6th January 2025

Until her son’s birth, Joy Eseoghene Odiete had enjoyed a rewarding career as a singer in Nigeria. This came to an abrupt halt when Chinua was born with cerebral palsy and lissencephaly, a rare brain disorder.

Disabilities in Nigeria are still widely considered taboo, and many parents disown disabled children as a result. Odiete’s husband soon fled, as did her friends, and she switched to a day job to prioritise her son’s well being.

Resolving not to hide Chinua away, Odiete uploaded her singing to her son on her socials. Trolls came out in force, an experience she recalled during an interview with the Guardian newspaper, explaining, “I’d post my baby and people would ask what was wrong with him. Some even accused me of trying to abort him, which wasn’t true.”

According to some beliefs in West Africa, disabilities are evidence of witchcraft and consequently disabled children are rarely seen in public, as parents either fear them or aim to protect them from cruelty. By contrast, Odiete refuses to bow to social conventions, instead openly celebrating Chinua’s uniqueness by establishing Chinua Children Care Foundation.

As well as providing support to cash-strapped families by funding their child’s supervision and equipping them with medical aids, the foundation also advocates for disabled children’s education and welfare provision. State support for additional needs and disabilities in education’s practically non-existent despite a 2019 law which mandated their inclusion in schools.

Witnessing this prejudice first hand led Oluwakemi Oluwakayode to volunteer at the foundation. The former headteacher had enrolled her daughter, Oluwaponmile, a child with cerebral palsy, in a private school. Within days, other parents threatened to withdraw their children if the school allowed Oluwaponmile to remain, resulting in its management leaning on Oluwakayode to deregister her daughter.

Now homeschooling Oluwaponmile using an interactive tablet, Oluwakayode runs meetings at the foundation, advising and instructing other parents as to the most beneficial ways of nurturing their disabled children.

Chinua Foundation mothers insist that their children won’t be hidden in the shadows, and Odiete’s updated her most celebrated song, ‘Kuchi Kuchi’, in honour of these exceptional children and their mothers, to campaign for their rights.