Physically challenged persons seem not to have found enough help from the society in underdeveloped countries.
Hence, they are confronted with social constraints, which have not been given adequate attention in the literature.
This study is a reaction to this problem in Nigeria. It examines reasons why the society stigmatizes physically
challenged individuals, instead of helping them. Drawing on the opinions of respondents from Lagos Island and
Friends of Ours Disabled Institute (FODI), Lagos, this paper reported ten reasons why the government fails to
implement the UN decisions on disabled persons, in spite of the fact that Nigeria was one of the original eighty
signatories to the adoption of these decisions. Relying on the data from a survey of 825 respondents, the study
attempted to discover if any significant relationship exists between the societal perception of physically challenged
persons and their attainment of life/personal goals. Our findings have sociological, psychological, emotional and
economical implications for physically challenged persons in underdeveloped societies
