Opinion Paper

Religion, culture, and discrimination against persons with disabilities in Nigeria

Edwin Etieyibo, Odirin Omiegbe
African Journal of Disability | Vol 5, No 1 | a192 | DOI: https://doi.org/10.4102/ajod.v5i1.192 | © 2016 Edwin Etieyibo, Odirin Omiegbe | This work is licensed under CC Attribution 4.0
Submitted: 28 April 2015 | Published: 31 October 2016

About the author(s)

Edwin Etieyibo, Department of Philosophy, School of Social Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand, South Africa
Odirin Omiegbe, Department of Educational Psychology, College of Education, Nigeria and Department of Administration and Policy Studies, Delta State University, Nigeria

Abstract

Background: There is not a lot in the literature on disability in Nigeria concerning the role that religion, culture and beliefs play in sustaining discriminatory practices against persons with disabilities.
Objectives: Many of these practices are exclusionary in nature and unfair. They are either embedded in or sustained by religion, culture and beliefs about disability and persons with disabilities.
Methods: Drawing on various resources and research on disability, this paper looks at these practices in respect of these sustaining factors. Some of the discriminatory practices that constitute the main focus of the paper are the trafficking and killing of people with mental illness, oculocutaneous albinism and angular kyphosis, raping of women with mental illness and the employment of children with disabilities for alms-begging.
Results: The examination of these practices lends some significant weight and substance to the social model of disability, which construes disability in the context of oppression and the failure of social environments and structures to adjust to the needs and aspirations of people with disabilities.
Conclusion: Given the unfairness and wrongness of these practices they ought to be deplored. Moreover, the Nigerian government needs to push through legislation that targets cultural and religious practices which are discriminatory against persons with disabilities as well as undertake effective and appropriate measures aimed at protecting and advancing the interests of persons with disabilities.

Keywords

Persons with disabilities; Nigeria; Disability; Religion; Belief; Discrimination

Metrics

Total abstract views: 10721
Total article views: 80411

 

Crossref Citations

1. People with disabilities in the margins in Nigeria
Edwin Etieyibo, Odirin Omiegbe
Africa Review  vol: 13  issue: 3  first page: S17  year: 2021  
doi: 10.1080/09744053.2020.1812040

2. The portrayal of persons with disabilities in Arabic drama: A literature review
Suhail Mahmoud Al-Zoubi, Samer Mahmoud Al-Zoubi
Research in Developmental Disabilities  vol: 125  first page: 104221  year: 2022  
doi: 10.1016/j.ridd.2022.104221

3. Are they not Nigerians? The obligation of the state to end discriminatory practices against persons with disabilities
Augustine Edobor Arimoro
International Journal of Discrimination and the Law  vol: 19  issue: 2  first page: 89  year: 2019  
doi: 10.1177/1358229119846764

4. Health beliefs and behaviours of families towards the health needs of children with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) in Accra, Ghana
D.‐L. Lamptey
Journal of Intellectual Disability Research  vol: 63  issue: 1  first page: 12  year: 2019  
doi: 10.1111/jir.12545

5. Enhancing social connectedness: How adults with vision impairment perceive and use social media in Nigeria
Nnaemeka Chidiebere Meribe, Emmanuel Ita Bassey, Anthony Ekpo Bassey, Caroline Ellison
New Media & Society  vol: 26  issue: 11  first page: 6220  year: 2024  
doi: 10.1177/14614448221148980

6. Ghanaian traditional and faith healers' explanatory models of intellectual disability
Lily Kpobi, Leslie Swartz
Journal of Applied Research in Intellectual Disabilities  vol: 32  issue: 1  first page: 43  year: 2019  
doi: 10.1111/jar.12500

7. How Do Older Adults in a Sub-Saharan African Community Perceive and Cope With Their Disability? An Interpretive Phenomenological Analysis
Judith Ifunanya Ani, Kezia Batisai, Loretta F. C. Ntoimo, Uche C. Isiugo-Abanihe
International Journal of Public Health  vol: 68  year: 2023  
doi: 10.3389/ijph.2023.1606273

8. Empowering persons with disabilities through training and employment: a case study
Donie Ver Medalla, Bella Marie Medalla
International Forum Journal  vol: 21  issue: 1  first page: 150  year: 2018  
doi: 10.63201/BVQH6652

9. Awareness and Knowledge of Congenital Cytomegalovirus as an Agent of Hearing Loss: A Descriptive Evidence from Nigeria
Olufemi Adigun, Adebomi Oyewumi, Thanduxolo Mngomezulu, Bernice Adekeye
The Open Public Health Journal  vol: 17  issue: 1  year: 2024  
doi: 10.2174/0118749445305521240516051327

10. “When They See a Wheelchair, They’ve Not Even Seen Me”—Factors Shaping the Experience of Disability Stigma and Discrimination in Kenya
Giulia Barbareschi, Mark T. Carew, Elizabeth Aderonke Johnson, Norah Kopi, Catherine Holloway
International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health  vol: 18  issue: 8  first page: 4272  year: 2021  
doi: 10.3390/ijerph18084272

11. “Oh God! Why Did You Let Me Have This Disability?”: Religion, Spirituality and Disability in Three African countries
Anthony Buyinza Mugeere, Julius Omona, Andrew Ellias State, Tom Shakespeare
Journal of Disability & Religion  vol: 24  issue: 1  first page: 64  year: 2020  
doi: 10.1080/23312521.2019.1698387

12. Social Justice and Social Work Curriculum at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, Nigeria
Chinyere E. Onalu, Uzoma O. Okoye
Research on Social Work Practice  vol: 31  issue: 6  first page: 576  year: 2021  
doi: 10.1177/10497315211001532

13. Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID‐19) and individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities in Nigeria
Ogochukwu Ann Ijezie, Hilary Izuchukwu Okagbue, Olufemi Adebari Oloyede, Vanessa Heaslip, Philip Davies, Jane Healy
Journal of Public Affairs  vol: 21  issue: 4  year: 2021  
doi: 10.1002/pa.2601

14. Social constructions of disabled women and their implications for their wellbeing in Lagos, Nigeria
Muhammed Faisol Olaitan
African Identities  vol: 22  issue: 4  first page: 1159  year: 2024  
doi: 10.1080/14725843.2023.2207763

15. Stakeholders Perspectives on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities in Abia and Imo States, Southeast Nigeria: A Multi-sectorial Approach
Agha A. Agha, Nnama-Okechukwu Chinwe U., Onalu Chinyere E., Okah Paulinus S., Anazonwu Nkemdilim P., Iwuagwu Anthony O., Chukwu Ngozi E., Okoye Uzoma O.
Journal of Human Rights and Social Work  vol: 9  issue: 2  first page: 263  year: 2024  
doi: 10.1007/s41134-023-00289-6

16. Being different: what it means to be a person with albinism in Nigeria
Anthony Olagunju, Mzwandile Mabhala, Gillian Buck, Louise Taylor
Disability & Society  vol: 40  issue: 7  first page: 1872  year: 2025  
doi: 10.1080/09687599.2024.2380502

17. Perceptions and experience of social media use among adults with physical disability in Nigeria: attention to social interaction
Anthony Bassey, Nnaemeka Meribe, Emmanuel Bassey, Caroline Ellison
Disability & Society  vol: 38  issue: 7  first page: 1146  year: 2023  
doi: 10.1080/09687599.2021.1983412

18. Utilization and impact of assistive device use on mental health among children with disabilities in Nigeria: a cross-sectional study
Hussaini Zandam, Surajo Kamilu Sulaiman, Ashiru Hamza Mohammad, Abdulwali Sabo
Disability and Rehabilitation: Assistive Technology  vol: 20  issue: 7  first page: 2094  year: 2025  
doi: 10.1080/17483107.2025.2524062

19. The Liberation Praxis of Disability Theology within the Apostolic Faith Mission of Zimbabwe: A Christian Theological Perspective
Nomatter Sande, John Ringson
Cuestiones Teológicas  vol: 47  issue: 107  first page: 78-93  year: 2020  
doi: 10.18566/cueteo.v47n107.a05

20. Addressing Inclusiveness in Tertiary Co-education: Attitude of Undergraduate and Academic Staff Towards Students with Disabilities in a South-West Nigerian University
Macellina Ijadunola, Patrick Akinyemi, Oluwapelumi Olowookere, Oluwatosin Olotu, Olayinka Goodman, Abdurrahman Ogundiran, Kayode Ijadunola
International Journal of Disability, Development and Education  vol: 69  issue: 1  first page: 47  year: 2022  
doi: 10.1080/1034912X.2021.2016658

21. The bad belle model: introducing a new model for understanding disability in Nigerian cinema and culture
Ngozi Marion Emmanuel
Disability & Society  vol: 40  issue: 10  first page: 2757  year: 2025  
doi: 10.1080/09687599.2025.2455092

22. Persons with disabilities as experts-by experience: using personal narratives to affect community attitudes in Kilifi, Kenya
Joseph K. Gona, Charles R. Newton, Sally Hartley, Karen Bunning
BMC International Health and Human Rights  vol: 18  issue: 1  year: 2018  
doi: 10.1186/s12914-018-0158-2

23. “A child who is hidden has no rights”: Responses to violence against children with disabilities
Janet Njelesani
Child Abuse & Neglect  vol: 89  first page: 58  year: 2019  
doi: 10.1016/j.chiabu.2018.12.024

24. Nurses' experiences of discrimination in health care: A qualitative study in Iran
Mohammadjavad Hosseinabadi-Farahani, Narges Arsalani, Mohammadali Hosseini, Eesa Mohammadi, Masoud Fallahi-Khoshknab
Journal of Education and Health Promotion  vol: 12  issue: 1  year: 2023  
doi: 10.4103/jehp.jehp_648_22

25. Can Digitization of Health Care Help Low-Resourced Countries Provide Better Community-Based Rehabilitation Services?
Joseph Kimuli Balikuddembe, Jan D Reinhardt
Physical Therapy  vol: 100  issue: 2  first page: 217  year: 2020  
doi: 10.1093/ptj/pzz162

26. The lived experience of people with upper limb absence living in Uganda: A qualitative study
Dafne Zuleima Morgado Ramirez, Brenda Nakandi, Robert Ssekitoleko, Louise Ackers, Erisa Mwaka, Laurence Kenney, Cathy Holloway, Maggie Donovan-Hall
African Journal of Disability  vol: 11  year: 2022  
doi: 10.4102/ajod.v11i0.890

27. Spirituality as a coping method for mothers of children with developmental disabilities
Aysel Karaca, Dilek Konuk Şener
International Journal of Developmental Disabilities  vol: 67  issue: 2  first page: 112  year: 2021  
doi: 10.1080/20473869.2019.1603730

28. Socioeconomic and geographical disparities in disability distribution among Tanzanian population: insights from the 2022 demographic and health survey and malaria indicator survey
Pankras Luoga, Gladys Reuben Mahiti, Oliva Kapinga, Blandina Herzon, Syabo M. Mwaisengela, Patricia A. Materu, Chrisogone J. German, Amalberga Alex Kasangala, Grace Edward Mtulo, Erick S. Kinyenje, Joseph C. Hokororo, Teresia Lipyana Ngonyani, Godfrey Kacholi, Ntuli A. Kapologwe, Claud J. Kumalija, Mackfallen G. Anasel, Eliudi S. Eliakimu
BMC Public Health  vol: 25  issue: 1  year: 2025  
doi: 10.1186/s12889-025-23152-x

29. Justice and unintentional discrimination in health care: A qualitative content analysis
Mohammadjavad Hosseinabadi-Farahani, Masoud Fallahi-Khoshknab, Narges Arsalani, Mohammadali Hosseini, Eesa Mohammadi
Journal of Education and Health Promotion  vol: 10  issue: 1  year: 2021  
doi: 10.4103/jehp.jehp_885_20

30. Paradise in the classroom: SEND, salam and surahs in maktab education
Imran Mogra
Journal of Religious Education  year: 2025  
doi: 10.1007/s40839-025-00272-5

31. Two People and One Albino! Accounts of Discrimination, Stigmatization, and Violence Against People Living with Albinism in Nigeria
Richard Abayomi Aborisade
Journal of Human Rights and Social Work  vol: 7  issue: 3  first page: 299  year: 2022  
doi: 10.1007/s41134-022-00214-3

32. “Why Always me?”: Childhood Experiences of Family Violence and Prejudicial Treatment against People Living with Albinism in Nigeria
Richard A. Aborisade
Journal of Family Violence  vol: 36  issue: 8  first page: 1081  year: 2021  
doi: 10.1007/s10896-021-00264-7

33. Extolling The Role of Sociology of Education in Empowering Individuals with Disabilities in Nigeria
Sule Muhammad, Mohammed Abdul Sarkin-Fada
Edumania-An International Multidisciplinary Journal  vol: 02  issue: 03  first page: 74  year: 2024  
doi: 10.59231/edumania/9057

34. Living with spinal cord injury in Mongolia: A qualitative study on perceived environmental barriers
Delgerjargal Dorjbal, Birgit Prodinger, Claudia Zanini, Baljinnyam Avirmed, Gerold Stucki, Sara Rubinelli
The Journal of Spinal Cord Medicine  vol: 43  issue: 4  first page: 518  year: 2020  
doi: 10.1080/10790268.2019.1565707

35. Perception of community reintegration among individuals with spinal cord injury in northwest Nigeria: a qualitative description
Bashir Kaka, Surajo Kamilu Sulaiman, Ashiru Hamza Mohammad, Bashir Bello, Muhammad Aliyu Abba, Umar Muhammad Bello, Dauda Salihu, Muhammad Chutiyami, Hussaini Zandam, Francis Fatoye
Disability and Rehabilitation  vol: 47  issue: 11  first page: 2809  year: 2025  
doi: 10.1080/09638288.2024.2402073

36. Explanatory models for the cause of Fragile X Syndrome in rural Cameroon
Karen Kengne Kamga, Jantina De Vries, Séraphin Nguefack, Nchangwi Syntia Munung, Ambroise Wonkam
Journal of Genetic Counseling  vol: 30  issue: 6  first page: 1727  year: 2021  
doi: 10.1002/jgc4.1440

37. Exploring the role and lived experiences of people with disabilities working in the agricultural sector in northern Nigeria the agricultural sector in northern Nigeria
Precious N. Sango, Mohammed Bello, Roy Deveau, Kevin Gager, Belinda Boateng, Hauwa K. Ahmed, Mohammed N. Azam
African Journal of Disability  vol: 11  year: 2022  
doi: 10.4102/ajod.v11i0.897

38. Public Attitudes in Asia Toward Stuttering: A Scoping Review
H. Haryani, Chu. S.Y, Yaruss. J. S., McConnell G., Ali. M. M.
The Open Public Health Journal  vol: 13  issue: 1  first page: 503  year: 2020  
doi: 10.2174/1874944502013010503