A Nigerian energy expert, Prof. Joe Ezigbo, has unveiled the Joe Ezigbo Foundation to create awareness on Dyslexia, support better teaching methods and work with the education authorities to improve how children who experience it are taught.
Speaking at the launch of the Foundation in Lagos on Saturday, Prof. Ezigbo told the audience that the foundation was the product of his personal experience and narrated how his daughter, Chinelo struggled with dyslexia while she was growing up.
He explained that at that time, he could not understand her condition and that he took her from one hospital to another in search of answers.
According to him, it was only later he realised that dyslexia was not a disease, but a learning system that required special teaching methods.
He noted that many children in Nigeria are facing similar challenges, but are often misunderstood, labeled or discouraged, which affect their confidence and future.
Prof, Ezigbo estimates that one in every five children delivered in Nigeria may have some level of dyslexia and that this realization informed the need to create more awareness on dyslexia in the country.
According to him, the Foundation will create awareness, support better teaching methods and work with the education authorities to improve how such children are taught.
“My daughter struggled quietly in school, bright, creative, but misunderstood. At the time, I lacked the knowledge to recognise what she was going through,” he said in his opening speech at the event.
“The problem is ours, not theirs. We condemn these children simply because we do not understand them.”
The experience, according to him, compelled him to ask the question that would define his mission: How many children across Nigeria are enduring the same silent struggle?
The Joe Ezigbo Foundation was born from that question, not as charity, but as a structured response to a national challenge. Its mission is to bridge the gaps in awareness, capacity, and policy that leave children undiagnosed, unsupported, and doubting their abilities.
“This is not just about literacy,” Prof. Ezigbo said. “It is about restoring confidence and dignity to children who are often misunderstood. No child should be denied a future because the system failed to understand how they learn,” he said.
He announced that in the coming months, the foundation would launch a pilot programme in selected primary schools in Lagos State, focusing on early screening, teacher training, and classroom support, with the long-term goal of scaling the initiative nationwide.
In her speech, Chinelo Joe Ezigbo said: “Imagine a little girl, sitting quietly in a bustling Nigerian classroom. She tries her best to follow the lesson, but the letters on the page seem to dance. When she is asked to read aloud, her voice trembles. Other children answer quickly, so she stays silent. Slowly, she begins to believe that she is not smart enough, not capable, somehow less capable. That little girl was Chinelo Joe Ezigbo.
“Different is not less,” she said at the launch of the Joe Ezigbo Foundation, her voice steady and unwavering. “But for many years of my life, I believed that it was.”
Growing up in Nigeria in the 1980s and 1990s, Chinelo struggled silently. She was often misunderstood, called names, and left to navigate her challenges alone.
Dyslexia was not a word anyone used then. Teachers did not recognise it. Parents had no framework to understand it. And without support, her confidence wavered.
“It was not that I was lazy, or unintelligent,” she said. “I simply learned differently.”
Her breakthrough came years later, in the United Kingdom, when she was diagnosed in her early thirties. Relief washed over her as she finally understood that she was not broken.
With support of extra time in exams, assistive technology and small adjustments in learning, her potential was unlocked.
She went on to complete double degrees in mental health nursing and social work and has spent the last 20 years supporting individuals and families through life’s most challenging moments.
“That journey has strengthened my belief that when people are understood and supported properly, their potential can truly flourish,” she said.
“No child should grow up believing that he or she is less endowed simply because they learn differently.”
“Let us protect the confidence of our children,
“Let us support families searching for answers, Let us equip teachers with understanding, let us build communities where children are seen, supported, and celebrated. Different is not less human,” Chinelo added.
For millions of Nigerian children still struggling in silence, the launch of the Joe Ezigbo Foundation marks more than an event. It signals the beginning of better understanding and support for a fair chance to every child.
GIK/APA