The Presidency has commended Sightsavers Nigeria for implementing the ‘Sabi Women’ Project, an initiative that empowers women with disabilities through education, entrepreneurship development and economic inclusion.
At the project’s closeout in Abuja yesterday, the senior special assistant to the President on Special Needs and Equal Opportunities, Hon. Mohammed Abba Isa, praised Sightsavers for its commitment to promoting social inclusion and improving opportunities for persons with disabilities across the country.
Isa said the project had demonstrated that women and girls with disabilities can thrive when provided with the right opportunities, support systems and enabling environment.
According to him, women with disabilities continue to face multiple and intersecting challenges, including limited access to quality education, exclusion from economic opportunities, social stigma and systemic barriers that restrict their full participation in society.
He noted that the Sabi Women Project had provided a practical model for inclusive development by placing women with disabilities at the centre of decision-making and implementation processes.
“Today’s event is not merely about celebrating the end of a project. It is an opportunity to reflect on lives transformed, barriers dismantled, and the brighter future being created for girls and young women with disabilities in Nigeria,” he said.
The presidential aide stressed the need for sustained collaboration among government institutions, development partners, civil society organisations and the private sector to expand opportunities for women and girls with disabilities nationwide.
Also speaking, the Country Director of Sightsavers Nigeria, Prof. Joy Shu’aibu, said the Girls’ Education and Skills Partnership (GESP), popularly known as the Sabi Women Project, combined educational support for adolescent girls with disabilities and entrepreneurship development for young women.
She explained that life coaches were engaged to inspire and mentor girls with disabilities, helping them build confidence and pursue their aspirations. At the same time, young women entrepreneurs received training in business management, bookkeeping, costing and financial literacy.
According to Shu’aibu, the project also partnered with companies such as Unilever to provide beneficiaries with access to products on credit, enabling them to establish and expand small businesses.
“We wanted to ensure that adolescent girls and women with disabilities have access to education, sustainable livelihoods and opportunities to become everything they can be,” she said.
She noted that stigma remains one of the greatest obstacles confronting persons with disabilities and called on the media to continue promoting positive narratives that highlight their capabilities, achievements and contributions to society.
Highlighting the project’s achievements, Shu’aibu disclosed that 1,512 young women with disabilities received entrepreneurship training, while 1,366 adolescent girls benefited from life-skills and career guidance programmes.
She added that 1,647 employers, business advisers, trainers and enterprise associations were trained on disability-inclusive practices to improve opportunities for women with disabilities in workplaces and businesses.
According to her, the project also collaborated with the Industrial Training Fund (ITF) to develop an inclusive entrepreneurship training guide and to strengthen facilitators’ capacity to train persons with disabilities effectively.
Shu’aibu urged governments, development partners and private sector organisations to sustain investments in disability inclusion, describing such efforts as critical to achieving equitable and sustainable national development.
The event brought together government officials, development partners, disability rights advocates, and beneficiaries to celebrate the project’s achievements over the past two years and discuss strategies to sustain its impact.
Stakeholders at the event emphasised the importance of investing in skills development and economic opportunities for persons with disabilities, noting that empowerment goes beyond charity and requires deliberate efforts to remove barriers to inclusion.
Among the beneficiaries who shared their experiences was Aisha Oguntola, a visually impaired student of the University of Lagos, who described the Sabi Women platform as life-changing.
She said the programme helped her discover her potential, improve her confidence and prepare for future employment opportunities through training in career planning, curriculum vitae writing and job readiness.
“The platform was an eye-opener. It helped me understand that disability does not define my ability. I can do everything others can do when given the opportunity,” she said.
Oguntola, however, lamented the persistent discrimination and social exclusion faced by persons with disabilities, including within educational institutions.
Another beneficiary, Aisha Muhammed from Kano State, said she gained valuable skills, confidence and financial independence through the initiative and now manages her own finances while pursuing vocational opportunities.
Stakeholders agreed that the success of the Sabi Women Project provides a strong foundation for scaling similar initiatives across Nigeria to ensure that every girl and woman with a disability has access to quality education, skills development and economic opportunities.
