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Clockwise: Muibat, Bushra and landmarks at Government High School, Adeita. Image credit: Rasheedat Iliyas
Kwara State has 901 public Junior and Senior Secondary Schools spread across 16 council areas. However, only Government High School, GHS, Adeita is designated for visually impaired students. For about ten years, this school has failed to open up its hostel to visually impaired female students, thereby keeping the girls away from classrooms. Rasheedat Iliyas who carried out an investigation on the situation, reports that the situation poses a serious concern to Girlchild Education.
The only Government approved school for visually impaired students, Government High School, Adeita has 11 students, ten of them are boys while Bushrah Abas, is the only female registered student. In June, 2025 when the reporter visited, Bushra, 17-years-old native of Ilorin, Babadudu compound, Idigba, sat idle in the classroom, fiddling with a paper on her desk while her classmates copied notes from the board. The SS1 Art class student would later ask her classmates to read out the lesson notes to her while she wrote on her braille writing materials. At the close of school, she joins her siblings to board a commercial motorcycle home while the boys return to the school hostel. Despite her seeming acceptance of the situation, Bushra, expressed displeasure with this arrangement during an interview with the reporter.
“At home, there is no person of my kind that we can learn together with. Government should provide hostel accommodation and bring in other girls so I won’t be alone.”
Bushra lives in Adabata, Ojatuntun area of Ilorin, a journey of about 20km to school. Aside from the daily financial demand of N500 for transportation being paid by her grandma, Bushra’s battles keeping up with classroom works not tailored to her needs.
Throughout Junior Secondary School, Bushra paid school fees despite government policies waiving them for persons with disabilities.
“The principal was unaware that a blind student was in school. Later on, the principal found out and asked who brought me in. The Principal said that I ought not to pay for school fees. I, however, continued to pay till I did my Junior WAEC and I also paid for my Junior WAEC.”
As a visually impaired student, Bushra requires typing skills to operate a typewriter, or computer with a talkback app; and write and read in braille to communicate effectively. Hence, she jostled between regular classroom attendance and the special education lab to learn these skills from Mallam Abdulkadri Sulaiman, (the teacher in charge of visually impaired students at GHS, Adeita), – a schedule not recognized by the school time-table.
“He (Mallam Abdulkadri) told me to come whenever I am free. Some days, our class teacher will not allow me to go out. Sometimes when I go, that’s when they will mark the class register, so they will think that I didn’t come.”
Aside from Government High School, Adeita, there is Kwara State School for Special Needs, Oyun which caters for primary education of visually impaired students, the mentally challenged and hearing impaired students. It also provides secondary school education but not for the visually impaired. There students are taught how to navigate their way with or without a guide cane, read and write in braille, and typing skills. However, Bushrah was unable to attend her primary education there, because the school authority said she was too young at six, to be admitted into the hostel. To keep her going, her grandma enrolled her in a private primary school where teachers guided her hand to take lesson notes in English alphabets.
“They told me that there is no nanny to care for her. I don’t want her to suffer because of her condition. I want her to be well read. So any assistance that they can render to her, they should do it so she can pursue a career of her choice,” Grandma said.
Out of School Visually Impaired Girls
Unlike Bushra, Agnes Daniel, Jariyat Mohamonu and Muibat dropped out of school after primary education. Agnes, had been home since 2016 because of the distance from her home in Tanke to GHS, Adeita.
“I really wish to further my education. Like they say, information is power, I will be very happy to go back to school.”
Due to inability to further her education and a failed attempt to learn hair dressing, Muibat, a resident of Babanloma has reclined into a shell built by societal rejection and government inaction.
“My mother used to go there often (GHS Adeita) to ask but at some point they told her to stop coming.”
Muibat’s mother who recounted a series of meetings with the leadership of Nigeria Association of the Blind, Kwara State chapter and government officials, said allowing Muibat to study outside of Kwara is not an option.
“…besides being visually impaired, Muibat is not physically strong enough to attend school in Oyo State. We were told that there are some private schools but we don’t have money for it, even feeding is difficult. Muibat is 22years now. She is just at home, her younger ones have left school a long time ago. As if taking care of special needs is not a big hurdle, accepting the reality that society has no place for them is also depressing,” Mama Muibat explained.
Jariat Mohamonu who graduated at KSSN, Oyun in 2023, would rather not talk about her ordeal. A first attempt to talk to her proved abortive and on the second attempt, her responses were short.
“I have done nothing since I left school at Oyun. I have my typing materials but I don’t use them anymore.”
Government High School, Adeita
Government High School, Adeita was established in May 1967. By 1985, it opened its gate to visually impaired students, both boys and girls. However, over the years, facilities, including the hostels, deteriorated keeping visually impaired students, particularly girls, away.
At the 55th anniversary of the school in August, 2022, the Kwara State Governor, Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq, promised to renovate the hostel. However, as at June 2025 when the reporter visited, except for the structures and painting, the interior of the hostel conjured imagery of deprivation. Rickety bunk bed with flattened mattresses holding mosquito nets in irregular shape; windows with missing glasses, burglary, and nets; few scattered kitchen utensils, deshaped and blackened, laid on the bare floored room.
“The roof here is leaking and we plan to fix the window nets ourselves because of mosquitoes. The toilets are not in the hostel premises. We have to go out very early in the morning to have our bath before other students arrive. Girls cannot cope here,” one of the boys explained.
At the girls hostel now occupied by staff, clothes hung loosely on ropes tied adjacent rooms. As at the time of visit, there was no one in sight and the rooms were locked.
The patron in charge of the male students, Mallam Abdulkadri Sulaiman, also visually impaired, said necessary measures must be put in place for visually impaired girls to learn there.
“Before the renovation, the school was dilapidated, the outlook was bad. So people do not want to come to the school. They were going to some other schools, maybe in Ekiti State. As a result, the woman (the principal) came, free of charge, she gave the hostel to staff of the junior school.”
NAB’s Unyielding Efforts
The Former Chairman, Nigeria Association of the Blind, NAB, Kwara chapter who also doubled as the Chairman, Joint National Association of Persons With Disabilities, JONAPWD, in Kwara State, Mallam Bashir Abdulganiyu, said at inception, all was well at GHS, Adeita.
“But at a point in time they said there is no longer space for girls there because the accommodation meant for girls had been issued out to staff. Till now, we are still advocating that the situation be reversed but all efforts have been unsuccessful.”
“We are even pleading with the government to allow our girls to go to the school at Queens College. Because they are anxious to go to school. What most of them do is that they move to other States where they will be able to go to secondary school.
“We have taken many steps. Several times we have met some Commissioners. They will say “we will do something, we will do something.”
A member of NAB, Emmanuel Onuche described the situation as unfortunate.
“It’s very painful. And this is the time that the world is talking about promoting SDGs 4, talking about promoting inclusive education, girlchild education, that’s what the world is working to achieve but in Kwara State, there is no school for blind girls.
In an emotional laden voice, the State Chairman, NAB, Akeem Lawal, called for an urgent intervention by the Kwara State Government so visually impaired girls can have access to secondary school education.
“For more than ten years, our blind girls do not have access to secondary school education, their education ends in primary school as I speak to you. I know this is not obtainable anywhere. It is only in Kwara State that once you are a blind girl, you manage to acquire primary education, you will be left with just two options, either to return to your parents’ house or to move out of Kwara State in search of secondary education. This is very disheartening.
“I have met series of persons that matter in this government. I can not continue to mention names. But even as at last week, they made us realize that effort is going on. Okay, effort is going on, on this matter, for more than ten years. For how long shall we continue to have our girls sitting down at home. So, it is not something very palatable.”
He expressed displeasure that the situation limits the girls’ potentials and opportunities for personal development and might suffer lack of representation in places that matter.
“What is required to solve this problem is minor. Where they will stay to learn is available, but where they will sleep, the space is also available but, you know where no one has inhabited for some years, it needs minor renovation. Also they need a matron to look after them to avoid harassment. And they need security, even if it’s one, to watch over them.” He said on GHS, Adeita.
School For Special Needs, Oyun
During a visit to the Kwara State School for Special Needs, Oyun, established in 1974, our reporter casually asked some girls where they will proceed to for secondary school education. Unlike the boys, they were not assertive.
“They (referring to the school authority) said we will go to Queens School.”
“No, they said it’s GSS,” They argued amongst themselves.
To resolve the lingering issue, a teacher who preferred anonymity, suggested that a secondary school be built within the premises.
“Why do they have to leave for another school? The compound is big enough, let them build more structures for them to have their secondary school education here once and for all.”
In the alternative, the teacher suggested that a secondary school nearby be incorporated to accommodate the blind students while they make use of KSSN boarding facilities.
The teacher who said that Notre Dame, Oro admitted the girls tuition free up until 2012/2013, recounted how a delegation from KSSN who went there in 2019 were turned down.
“When we got there, 90% of the staff didn’t know that the school used to accommodate special students. Our resource room was gone and there were no traces of us ever being there.
“At GHS, Adeita despite our efforts, they turned them down. They said they don’t have security, no matron, so they can’t take the girls. And for feeding, they said that the money they (government) give is what they manage for the boys’ feeding,” another teacher explained.
The School for Special Needs in Offa
Perhaps, Iyeru Okin School for Special Needs in Offa would have been the only public secondary school available for now for visually impaired girls in Kwara State. However, the school’s ownership could not be ascertained as at the time of this publication. The school, established in 2012, provides Primary and Junior Secondary School education for all categories of children with disabilities. However, facilities at the school, particularly teaching and learning resources such as textbooks, typewriters, computers, braille paper, stylus pen and payment of salaries of some teachers, were mostly provided by well meaning organizations and individuals.
As at the time of visit, Iyeru Okin School for Special Needs, has no potable water, electricity supply and hostel accommodation, giving room for poor classroom attendance.
Although a report by The Cable said it was established by the Local Government Education Authority, the Chairman of the Local Government referred to it as a private establishment, during a courtesy call by a socio-cultural group, Offa Professional Ladies Forum, OPLaF.
In an interview with this reporter, the Chairman, Offa Descendants Union, ODU, Offa branch, Alhaji Lanre Shittu, said it was established by one Alhaji Dauda Layo but had since been taken over by the State Government. This claim was however quickly refuted by the State Commissioner for Education, Dr Lawal Olohungbebe who stated clearly that the State Government has only one school for special needs, which is KSSN, Oyun.
However, further investigations revealed that the school has two teachers deployed there by the Kwara State Universal Basic Education Board, KWASUBEB and that there are available documents indicating that Government may have taken over the school.
In the school premises lies three blocks of classrooms, one of it built by Kwara State Community and Social Development Agency, KWSCDA and another by the Federal Government.
A quick search on the internet directed the reporter to a World Bank fund donated to the school through KWCSDA and donations by Offa Professional Ladies Forum, OPLaF.
Inclusive Education Gap
The Discrimination Against Persons With Disabilities (Prohibition) Act, 2018, the National Policy on Education and the Policy on Inclusive Education all seek to uphold the rights of persons with disabilities. However, in reality, actualisation of these ideals remains a mirage.
Kwara has initiated a number of programmes and policies on education but none has directly addressed inclusive education. The present slogan of the State is ‘Every Child Count” but this seems a mere statement going by the delay of Government to resettle the visually impaired girls. Although there are ramps at basic school structures, students with disabilities remain invisible there.
Available data shows that the Kwara State Government, since the administration of Governor Abdulfatai Ahmed, when the problem began, gave substantial allocation to Education in its annual budget.
From 2019 till date, there are also provisions in the Kwara State Annual Budget showing allocations for teaching and learning aids for school for special needs; rehabilitation and repair of public schools; and inclusive and special education.
For instance, in the 2025 Kwara State Approved Budget, under Total Expenditure by Programme, page 68, item 0503, “Equity and Inclusiveness in the Provision of Education,” Inclusive and Special Education, received over N6.5 billion in 2023 full year actual; in 2024 revised budget, N21.9 billion was approved; while the 2024 performance showed that between January to September, N8.4 billion was also expended on inclusive and special education. And then in the 2025 approved budget, it was allocated N52.8 billion.
Despite these large investments in special education, the Government has failed to ensure that visually impaired girls have equal and unfettered access to public secondary school education in Kwara State for about ten years.
According to UNICEF, 95% of children with disabilities in developing countries are out of school and 90% of them may never gain access to basic education in their lifetime. Although Kwara State has a policy brief on Inclusive Education, implementation seems a major challenge. A problem observers say needed to be resolved in earnest to combat a social burden of unproductive and unskilled population.
Experts say special needs schools should be strengthened to become resource centers while special education should be decentralized to give way for inclusive education so children with disabilities have a choice to school close home rather than being forced to stay away from their families in the pursuit for quality education, that way, hostel accommodation may no longer be an issue.
In its Five Year Development Plan, the Kwara State Education Trust Fund stated that the net enrollment rate for junior secondary schools in the State stands at 47%, indicating that less than half of the eligible age group are enrolled in school. While for the senior secondary school education, only about a quarter of eligible youths are enrolled in school. This gap underscores the pressing need for interventions to boost access and participation. And inclusive education might just be the answer as exemplified by a non governmental organization, Sightsavers’ SMILE project and the National Policy on Inclusive Education in Nigeria, 2023.
Also, in a Policy Brief on Inclusive Education in Kwara State, published by the Joint National Association of Persons With Disabilities, JONAPWD, the State Government was advised to ensure that schools have accessible toilets and classrooms.
“I have reached at least 90percent conclusion of moving the girls to Queen Elizabeth School.” – State Commissioner for Education
It turned out that the Kwara State Government is not unaware of the plight of visually impaired girls. In an interview with the newly assigned Commissioner for Education, Dr Lawal Olohungbebe, he acknowledged that efforts were on to solve the issue of female hostel at GHS Adeita. However, he said after several meetings with stakeholders, the idea of adopting Queen Elizabeth School came up.
“The first thing I’m trying to do is to get His Excellency’s approval. That’s the first step. I have reached at least 90 percent conclusion of moving the girls to Queen Elizabeth School. That environment to us is more conducive for them. We can put them anywhere if we don’t care but because we care, as far as this government is concerned, that is why we are looking for the most appropriate, most conducive place for them to learn, to study.”
On the Commissioner’s desk, the reporter sighted a letter addressed to the State Governor titled “Proposal for Admission of Blind Girls into Queen Elizabeth School,” dated June 23, 2025.
A Girl’s Dream
While the visually impaired community awaits the Kwara State Government’s decision, Bushra shared her dreams of becoming a computer operator even though she had never used one.
“The government should pity me and put in place every necessary infrastructure for me to learn. And whatever they need to do, they should do it fast.” she begged for the fulfilment of her right.
This report was supported by the Wole Soyinka Centre for Investigative Journalism (WSCIJ) under its Report Women! Female Reporters Leadership Programme (FRLP).
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