Media Portrayals of Disability and Disability Issues in Nigeria: Stereotypes and Solutions

Disability issues are swiftly becoming topics of hot debate in Third World countries, including Nigeria. These debates largely centre on human rights and the unfair stereotype of persons with disabilities. In Nigeria, as in most countries where disability rights remain a problem, one of the greatest disservices to the disabled community is the lack of awareness about what actually constitutes disability and the full range of it, not to mention the heavy stigmatisation of disabled people in nearly every sphere. At the heart of the insensitivity to and lack of awareness of disability issues by the wider public is the mass media, whose role has been determined to be negligible at best. This chapter takes a broad assessment of the publicity and portrayal of disability and disability issues in the Nigerian media. A background is laid for the discussion by a presentation of the disability stereotypes common in Nigerian society; causes and implications are also discussed in detail while the media’s effect on audiences is examined as a potential reason for the unabated spread of stereotypes and stigmatisation of people with disability. By way of solution, increased media coverage and reportage of disability issues are proffered, as well as enactment of disability rights laws, disability equality training for media professionals and employment of persons with disability in the mainstream media.