Plans are underway by the Alternative Bank (AltBank) to present a policy brief to relevant government ministries, recommending vocational pathways, autism care financing options, and a 12-month Lagos pilot across selected schools and primary healthcare centres.
The recommendations are from the inaugural Autism Stakeholders Roundtable and Policy Dialogue in Lagos, organised by the lender in partnership with the Private Sector Health Alliance of Nigeria (PSHAN), Eliakim Foundation, and Sterling One Foundation under the theme, It is How You Show Up.
The programme served as a critical platform to address the country’s fragmented autism support systems, with leading healthcare professionals, policymakers, and autism advocates in attendance, praising the financial institution’s decisive shift toward early intervention, systemic inclusion, and comprehensive capacity building for parents and caregivers.
The president of the Medical Women’s Association of Nigeria (MWAN) Lagos State Branch, Dr Ime Okon, stressed her group’s alignment with the bank’s initiatives.
“We recognise caregivers and families as central to the success of any intervention. We are showing up, holding their hands, to ensure they are never left to navigate this journey alone.
“For a physician, showing up means ensuring that a parent’s first concern is met with a strengthened, inclusive system rather than a clinical dead-end with no solution. The Alternative Bank has signalled a shift toward a high-level platform for national action,” she stated.
Validating this urgent need for systemic early response, the keynote speaker and founder of the Patrick Speech and Languages Centre (PSLC), Mrs Dotun Akande, advocated the integration of universal developmental screening into primary healthcare, stressing that Nigeria must transition from relying on parallel private centres to building a coordinated national response.
“What Nigeria must now build is a system where intervention happens early, equitably, and at scale, without depending on chance, geography, or privilege,” Mrs Akande noted, outlining the necessity of a caregiver support scheme that addresses both the financial and social needs of families navigating autism.
Answering this call to action, the Executive Director of Commercial and Institutional Banking (Lagos and Southwest) at The Alternative Bank, Mrs Korede Demola-Adeniyi, unveiled the financial institution’s concrete commitments to parent and professional training.
Noting that showing up in Nigeria has “too often meant showing up late,” she announced a robust three-pillar intervention agenda focusing on inclusive education, targeted training for caregivers and health professionals, and behavioural change advocacy.
As an immediate first step, Mrs Demola-Adeniyi announced the launch of a specialised capacity-building programme on Receptive Language Disorder, executed in collaboration with Eliakim Global Resources, which commenced on Sunday, April 26, 2026.
“Early recognition and sustained support depend on a workforce and caregivers who know what to look for, and what to do next,” she explained, emphasising that receptive language is a consequential developmental marker that is frequently missed.
The roundtable fostered dynamic discussions on practically designing and sustainably funding high-impact support programmes.
