The Organisations of Persons with Disabilities (OPDs) has advocated a more strategic visibility. The OPDs made the advocacy during a one-day workshop training with the media organised by the Voices Amplified Network (VAN), in conjunction with Ability Impact Centre (AIC) in Lagos.

The training/workshop brought together over 10 OPDs. It also featured expert-led sessions, hands-on group work, and the launch of AIC’s media kit for OPDs, a pioneering resource to help the organisations’ craft-compelling, advocacy-driven communication.

A highlight of the day was the interactive session led by Ayo Makinde of Channels Television, which challenged participants to move from narratives of pity to narratives of power.

Co-founder of the Ability Impact Centre (AIC), Olusola Adeyefa, said: “This workshop is more than training. It’s a movement. We are reclaiming our stories and taking our place in Africa’s development agenda.”

Meanwhile, Founder of the Let Cerebral Palsy Kids Learn Foundation, Tobiloba Ajayi, and a broadcast journalist from the Lagos Television (LTV), Folashade Salimonu, were among the distinguished resource persons who added depth to the conversation on inclusive media.

The participants appreciated the initiative for bridging gaps in advocacy. President of the Albinism Association of Nigeria (Lagos), Tolani Ojuri, noted that the VAN is a very significant resource hub for OPDs, while Kingsley Njoku of the Lagos State Association of the Deaf shared how the workshop offered practical ways to amplify our voices, regardless of disability type.

However, with partners like Kthalm Logistic, Sam Ijiyokunola (SI) Photography, and Techly Marketing, the participants noted that the VAN workshop is catalysing a powerful shift, from exclusion to expression, from silence to strategy.