This thesis investigates attitudes towards and beliefs about people with disabilities in Nigeria. The thesis seeks to understand why disabled persons have been marginalized in Nigeria, by even their own parents/guardians and relatives, simply because they are disabled. The thesis identifies culture as the main source of these beliefs and attitudes and shows how deeply engrained are negative attitudes to the disabled in Nigerian culture and society. The impact on disabled people is great; such as the ways in which disabled persons assess themselves, which hampers their ability to achieve as much as their able-bodied counterparts in their respective communities. The research took a broadly qualitative approach. To collect data, I interviewed and administered questionnaires to disabled students, non-disabled students, the parents of disabled children and adults and those parents that do not have disabled children, government officials and teachers, including the retired and those that were still in the service, at both federal and state levels. The main purpose of the research is to discover the source of negative attitudes towards and beliefs about people with disabilities. Through this research, the reasons behind the above mentioned problems confronting people with disabilities have been traced to the Nigerian culture. This cuts across the social, ethnic and religious stratification of the society despite being addressed by policy at each of the three tiers of Government that exist in Nigeria. Recommendations for enhancing the impact of policy are made.

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