Adebukola Adebayo

Associate, Social Development

Adebukola Shehu Adebayo is a disability inclusion and development practitioner with over 15 years of experience. Adebukola is the founder and CEO of Human and Organizational Resources Development Centre (HORDC), Nigeria. He was appointed by the Governor of Lagos State to the Governing Board of the Lagos State Office for Disability Affairs (LASODA) between 2016/2019.

He currently seats on the Board of several other Disabled People's Organizations (DPOs) and civil society groups in Nigeria. Adebukola currently serve as Disability Inclusion and policy Expert on the National and Lagos State Technical Working Groups (TWGs) on Social Protection Policy. He served on the Inclusive Education Policy drafting Committees in the Federal Capital Territory, Lagos, Akwa-Ibom and Kwara states respectively.

Adebukola is currently serving as the elected Lagos State Chairman of the Joint National Association of Persons with Disabilities (JONAPWD), the umbrella body for all DPOs in Nigeria. Adebayo was the immediate past National Technical Adviser to the JONAPWD National President on Inclusive Development Projects including the USAID-SACE project on Inclusive Basic Education for Children with Disabilities in FCT Abuja, Akwa-Ibom and Kwara states respectively. Adebukola’s work has contributed emmencely to development and implementation of legal and policy frameworks on disability rights and inclusion in sectors like education, health, social protection, financial inclusion, telecommunications, public transport, public infrastructure, and the electoral process. His effective use of research advocacy has produced several baseline data on disability inclusion which is contributing to knowledge development and behaviour change towards disability issues in Nigeria.

Adebukola is currently a Chevening Scholar in the Institute for Development Studies, University of Sussex, UK. He is an Alumni of the US International Professional Exchange Programme and of Mobility International USA (MIUSA) respectively with degrees in Political Science, Education and Human Resource Management. Adebukola has a track record of successfully leading disability rights advocacies at subnational and national levels in Nigeria; playing key roles in the successes of DFID-SAVI and USAID-SACE supported citizens-lead disability rights advocacies and engagements in Nigeria. Adebukola is a recipient of the 2016 Lagos State Merit Award in recognition of his contributions to the enactment and implementation of the Lagos State Special People’s Law in 2011.