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Inclusive education in Nigeria: Current state and multi-stakeholders’ position
Global educational paradigms are increasingly shifting towards inclusive models, demanding committed participation and collaboration from a diverse range of stakeholders to ensure equitable access and quality for all learners. This article provides a comprehensive review of the current state of inclusive education in Nigeria, synthesizing existing literature to analyze its progress, persistent challenges, and future prospects across primary, secondary, and ter-tiary levels. Employing a thematic analysis approach, the study examines the experiences, perceptions, and attitudes of key stakeholders — including pre-service and in-service teach-ers, parents, students with and without disabilities, and special educators — toward inclusive practices. The research synthesizes findings from peer-reviewed articles, national policy docu-ments (e. g., the National Policy on Inclusive Education 2023), institutional reports (e. g., from UNESCO, UNICEF, JONAPWD), and conference proceedings. The results reveal a complex landscape: while Nigeria has demonstrated policy commitment through ratification of inter-national declarations and national legislation, implementation remains nascent and deeply inconsistent. Significant structural barriers persist, including inadequate infrastructure, insuf-ficient teacher training, a chronic lack of resources (such as assistive technologies), and poor policy enforcement. Critically, sociocultural factors like deep-seated stigma, misinformation about disability, and negative societal attitudes continue to hinder progress, often resulting in discrimination and exclusion within supposedly mainstream schools. Stakeholder perspec-tives are markedly mixed. While some pre-service teachers, undergraduate students, and stu-dents with visual impairments demonstrate positive attitudes towards inclusion, many parents and educators harbor reservations due to concerns about a lack of support, doubts about the capacity of schools to accommodate diverse needs, and the prevalence of stigma. The study finds that attitudes towards inclusion are often mediated by factors such as gender, age, and level of training, with younger and more trained individuals generally displaying more fa-vorable views. The article concludes by emphasizing the critical need for a multi-pronged ap-proach that simultaneously addresses structural obstacles, enhances stakeholder understand-ing through targeted awareness campaigns, and actively engages community leaders to foster a more receptive sociocultural environment, thereby paving the way for the successful and sustainable implementation of truly inclusive education in Nigeria