Nigeria’s Invisible Book Crisis: Blind Students Left Behind
A National Problem Hidden in Plain Sight
NIGERIA’S education crisis took on a new dimension in 2026 as the Nigerian Copyright Commission (NCC) revealed a shocking accessibility deficit in the country’s publishing ecosystem. In a statement marking 2026 World Braille Day, NCC Director-General Dr. John Asein described Nigeria’s accessible-book scarcity as a national emergency, noting that less than 1% of published materials exist in formats usable by the visually impaired.
While national conversations around literacy often focus on school enrolment and teacher shortages—issues you’ve previously analysed in similar long-form stories—this problem cuts deeper: millions of Nigerians may technically be “in school,” but blind and visually impaired learners are effectively shut out of the curriculum because the books they need do not exist in readable form.
From Treaty to Law: A Reform with Untapped Potential
The NCC traced its intervention to the Copyright Act of 2022, which domesticates the Marrakesh Treaty, a landmark global agreement that allows copyrighted works to be reproduced in accessible formats without publisher permissions, as long as the process is carried out by authorised entities.
Dr. Asein specifically cited Section 26, which enables libraries, NGOs, and approved institutions to convert books into Braille, audio, and screen-reader-compatible text without legal obstruction. Yet despite the existence of enabling legislation, adoption remains minimal. Investigations by disability advocates show that many publishers are either unaware of the provision or lack the technical capacity to implement it.
The Implementation Gap: Awareness, Capacity, or Will?
A critical issue emerging from stakeholder discussions is that Nigeria has the legal framework but not the infrastructure. Most laboratories can barely test for drug-resistant infections, as one recent report you asked about noted—similarly, most publishing houses cannot convert books for print-disabled citizens.
With accessible-book conversion largely reliant on handwritten registers, informal arrangements, and charity initiatives, Nigeria risks falling into the same pattern seen in its AMR surveillance gap: laws written in ink, but systems still running on paper.
Inclusion Beyond Speech: The Data-Driven Reality
Asein warned that the impact is measurable: blind learners are disproportionately affected by unemployment, limited higher-education access, and poverty, not because of ability, but exclusion. His closing message was pointed: inclusion is not optional—it is enforceable.
