CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1     Background of Study

Worldwide, the prevalence of disability is argued to be growing, with population ageing and increasing incidence of chronic health conditions (World Health Organisation/World Bank 2011). Disability affects a wide range of socio-economic outcomes, including labour market participation, but also other factors that shape participation including education, information and transport.

The WHO (2013) (World Health Organisation) describes disability as an umbrella term, covering impairments, activity limitations, and participation restrictions. The impairment being a problem in body function or structure; an activity limitation being a difficulty encountered by an individual in executing task or action; while a participation restriction is termed a problem experienced by an individual’s involvement in life situations. Disability is thus not just a health problem, but a complex phenomenon, reflecting the interaction between features of a person’s body and features of the society in which he/she lives. Impairment can occur from/ at birth or any time over the course of an individual’s life, either permanently or temporarily.

As pertains to its causes, explanations abound from the mystical to the empirically researched complex happenings that only genetics can provide as is the case in Systemic Lupus Erythematosis. Mugo (2010) states that traditional and spiritual beliefs play an important role in framing up comprehensions of disability in Africa. Many communities attribute disability to witchcraft, curses or conditions afflicted by bad omen and spirits with the resulting effect being that of fear and pity towards the PWD (Persons living with Disability)leading to their isolation/discrimination.

In actual schooled sense, the causes of disability are as numerous as they are indiscriminate; encompassing everyday happen-stances like road accidents, diseases as trachoma, war injuries,and work place injuries amongst others. This being the case, it should come as a soberingrealization that we are all potential candidate or already might be albeit without symptom as isthe case with genetically acquired degenerative diseases. With this in mind, it should bear moreon our expertise, for us in academia to pay more attention to matters of disability.

The convention on the Rights of Persons Living with Disability, an initiative of the UnitedNations, as quoted in the WHO website, states that around 10% of the World’s population orroughly 650 million persons live with known disability. This undisputedly constitutes theworld’s largest and most widespread minority and with continued trends of rapid populationgrowth and advances in modern medicine, posits the WHO, these figures can only rise.

The first ever world report on disability (2000) co-authored by the World Bank group and WHOholds that PWD (Persons living with Disability) generally face higher rates of poverty and areafforded fewer economic opportunities compared to persons without disability. The figures arethat 20% of the world‘s poorest are disabled and living in the developing countries. This sadstate of affairs can find part explanation in the ostracization of PWD from mainstream social-economiclife by society.

Disabled people tend to be concentrated in lower-skilled, lower-paid occupations (Meager and Higgins 2011). Low participation rates are costly for the individuals concerned in terms of economic and psychological well-being, for governments in terms of lost output and tax revenues, and increased welfare payments, and for the society in terms of the impact of social exclusion and discrimination on civic participation and public life.

However, one possible solution to problems of low participation rates lies in the potential for disabled people to become self employed or to start and run their own businesses. The relevance of entrepreneurship education to humanity and economic growth cannot be overemphasized considering its developmental incentives in the well being of an individual and promotion of economic activities. Entrepreneurship education could take the form of technical education, business education, computer application, fine and applied arts among others.

Entrepreneurship is not just skill acquisition for acquisition sake; it is an acquisition of skills and ideas for the sake of creating employment for one’s self and also others (Garba 2010). Therefore the need for entrepreneurial education to be incorporated into special needs education curriculum for this category of persons becomes a salient issue. This is because entrepreneurship education will help unlock their potentials and pave way for their financial independence and sustainability in the face of the large scale unemployment in Nigeria.

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