“This Pandemic Brought a Lot of Sadness”: People with Disabilities’ Experiences of the COVID-19 Pandemic in Nigeria

This is a report on a qualitative study undertaken as part of the Inclusion Works programme, aiming to reach a group who are not often included in research studies. A Nigeria-based researcher asked 10 people with disabilities in Nigeria to tell us about their lives during the COVID-19 pandemic. They had different types of impairments such as intellectual, physical, visual and hearing impairments.This qualitative study was undertaken as part of the work of the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) funded Inclusion Works programme which aims to improve inclusive employment for people with disabilities in four countries: Uganda, Kenya, Nigeria, Bangladesh. When the COVID-19 pandemic emerged early in 2020 the work of this consortium programme was adapted to focus on pandemic relief and research activities, while some other planned work was not possible. The Institute of Development Studies (IDS) led a piece of qualitative research to explore the experiences and perceptions of the pandemic and related lockdowns in each country, using a narrative interview approach, which asks people to tell their stories, following up with some further questions once they have identified their priorities to talk about. 10 people with disabilities who were involved in Inclusion Works in each country were purposively selected to take part, each being invited to have two interviews with an interval of one or two months in between, in order to capture changes in their situation over time. The 10 interviewees had a range of impairments, were gender balanced and were various ages, as well as having differing living and working situations