A row of physically challenged persons from the Northern part of Nigeria were seen cleaning up after observing the Friday prayers by the side of a mosque at the University of Uyo, Town Campus in Akwa Ibom State. There were about eight of them conversing in Hausa language. Muhammad Sani, a cripple among them, who was on the phone, speaking some fluent English, caught the attention of Saturday Tribune. Handsome and with a well-built physique betraying his sporting activity, Sani who was donning a sparkling white turtle neck long sleeve top was ready to relate his life story.
He exuded an air of confidence that translated into his desire to pull through life no matter the challenges and odds against him. He affirmed that though he was crippled, and moved around aided, his condition did not define who he was or who he would eventually be.
Sani hails from Eggon Local Government Area, Nasarawa State, and undergoing powerlifting training in Uyo stadium. He said he wasn’t born a cripple, neither was it the handiwork of polio, but was unfortunate to be wrongly injected by an unskilled medical personnel which crippled his legs when he was just five.
“My name is Muhammad Sani Yakubu I’m from Eggon Local Government Area, Nasarawa State; my parents are still alive. I’m 32 years old. I’m not married and I don’t have any kids yet.
“I wasn’t born like this; my legs became paralysed as a result of a wrong injection I got when I was five years old.
“Being a cripple does not define who I am. Powerlifting is one of the things that gives me joy and when I train, I do so to my heart’s content,” he said with some air of confidence.
The 32-year-old, who spoke near flawless English unlike his counterparts, confirmed to Saturday Tribune that he finished his primary and secondary school education in spite of his condition.
As a powerlifter and blacksmith, Sani prides himself as having the ability to live life despite the challenges he had with his legs. He said that though he had a means of livelihood back in his hometown, he was in the Land of Promise for his powerlifting training.
He revealed that his two years of sports training were sponsored by the government of Nasarawa State and that the government had promised to put him on its payroll once he completed the training.
“I have been training for the sport for almost a year now in Uyo National Stadium. If I finish the training, the government will start paying me. If I complete my training, my coach, to whom I have been designated, will notify the government to put my name on the list of powerlifters in the state.
“I have been in Uyo for like two years now. I came here because of sport, I’m a powerlifter. I finished primary and secondary school in Nasarawa before coming here to train for powerlifting.
“When people come to the stadium and see us training, they look at me with curiosity; some even walk up to me to ask me how I’m managing to train even without legs; and I tell them that even though I beg for alms to survive sometimes, being able to do what I like gives me joy.
“I have a blacksmith shop in Nasarawa where I produce local farming tools like cutlasses, hoes, knives, and daggers and if the hardship gets too much and I’m unable to get enough money to feed from begging, I call the person managing my shop in Nasarawa State to send money. I have been in this Uyo and it has been peaceful,” he revealed.
When asked how begging for alms has been, especially in the face of the recent economic hardship in the state, Sani replied, “The economic situation in the country has not been favorable to those begging for alms to eat because unlike before, if you were given N200, you don’t get up to that anymore.
“Even in the mosque where we get lucky sometimes, now before anyone will give you up to N200, they’ll have to check their pockets twice.
Inquiring if there is anything he would want to ask of the government, he said that the Nasarawa government is already doing enough by sponsoring his training. He, however, implored the Federal Government to take the security crisis in the North seriously.
“I don’t have anything to ask of the government because I think they have tried for some of us especially those of us from Nasarawa State.
“They should, however, restore peace in the North, they should fight banditry with everything they can so that there will be peace and prosperity in the Northern States,” he pleaded.
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