Abstract

There is a general misconception in the society that people with special needs are not concerned about the nation’s democracy. Therefore, this study aimed at investigating the perception of people with special needs about democratic dividends in the country. To achieve this, 14 participants each were randomly selected from among persons with physical impairment (PH), hearing impairment (HI) and visual impairment (VI). 42 people with special needs from the federal college of education (special), Oyo were the subjects of the study. This institution has the highest concentration of literate people with special needs in Nigeria. The age range of the participants was between 20 and 45 with a mean age of 27.8 years and standard deviation of 3.42 years. The instrument employed was a self-generated and validated democratic dividends as perceived by people with special needs. The result showed that people with special needs are keenly aware and concerned about the nation’s democratic dividends. The results were discussed about how people with special needs could benefit more and be integrated meaningfully into the polity.

Key words: democracy, persons with special needs, democratic dividends