Speaking in Abuja on Monday on budgeting for children with disabilities, organised by TQM with the support of TLM Nigeria, the National Director of TLM Nigeria, Dr. Sunday Udo, said a desk review of federal and state budget documents between 2023 and 2025 revealed a troubling pattern of neglect.
The Leprosy Mission Nigeria(TLMN), has raised the alarm over what it described as the near-total invisibility of children with disabilities in Nigeria’s public budgets, warning that the absence of clear and traceable budgetary provisions amounts to systemic exclusion.
Speaking in Abuja on Monday on budgeting for children with disabilities, organised by TQM with the support of TLM Nigeria, the National Director of TLM Nigeria, Dr. Sunday Udo, said a desk review of federal and state budget documents between 2023 and 2025 revealed a troubling pattern of neglect.
According to him, although government budgets make broad references to disability, social welfare, health and education, there are little or no specific budget lines intentionally dedicated to children with disabilities.
“What we found is deeply concerning,” Udo said. “Children with disabilities are often assumed to be ‘covered’ under general programmes, without any assurance that funds are actually reaching them.”
He said the implication is that children with disabilities remain effectively excluded from public spending, regardless of the existence of policies that claim inclusivity.
“If children with disabilities are not clearly budgeted for, they are effectively excluded—no matter how good our policies sound,” he added.
Udo noted that children with disabilities face multiple layers of disadvantage, including limited access to education, delayed or inadequate healthcare, heightened protection risks and a higher likelihood of lifelong poverty.
“Yet our budgets often treat them as an afterthought, not a priority,” he said, describing the situation as not merely a technical oversight but a fundamental issue of equity, accountability and justice.
He stressed that the media roundtable was convened to push evidence-based action, not theoretical discussions, insisting that the proof of exclusion is visible in budget figures.
“The evidence is in the budget numbers,” Udo said. “The action begins with visibility.”
He urged journalists to interrogate public spending and demand accountability from government officials by asking critical questions about who benefits from budget allocations.
“You have the power to turn budget tables into public accountability,” he told media practitioners. “Ask: Where is the money? Who is it meant to reach? And why are children with disabilities still missing from the numbers?”
Describing budgets as “moral documents,” Udo said they reflect a society’s values and priorities.
“What is not budgeted for is not prioritised—and what is not prioritised leaves children behind,” he said. “Budgets show us who counts, and who remains invisible.”
He called on the Nigerian government to move beyond vague commitments and adopt specific, costed and trackable budget provisions for children with disabilities.
“Inclusion must be planned, costed and monitored,” Udo said, warning that without deliberate budgeting, children with disabilities would continue to be excluded from national development.
TLM Nigeria said it would share detailed findings from its budget review and work with journalists to ensure sustained media scrutiny of disability-related budgetary issues.
Meanwhile, the Executive Director of The Qualitative Magazine (TQM), Comrade Chris Agbo, urged the media to intensify scrutiny of government budgeting processes to ensure children with disabilities are no longer ignored in public planning and spending.
Agbo who made the call in his opening remarks at the Media Roundtable, warned that the continued invisibility of children with disabilities in national and sub-national budgets poses a serious threat to their rights and future.
“Across Nigeria, millions of children with disabilities remain invisible in public planning and budgeting,” Agbo said. “When budgets are silent, services fail. When services fail, rights are denied. And when rights are denied, the future of an entire generation is placed at risk.”
He stressed that the media plays a critical role in shaping public discourse, influencing policy priorities and holding duty bearers accountable, particularly on issues affecting marginalised groups.
According to him, accurate, ethical and inclusive journalism can help ensure that budgeting processes reflect the real needs and aspirations of children with disabilities, rather than leaving them buried under broad and non-specific social welfare programmes.
“This roundtable is designed to strengthen your capacity to interrogate budgets, ask the right questions, amplify marginalised voices, and tell stories that drive action and reform,” Agbo told participants.